


Breath of Life

by Tea_and_Snowflakes



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Kinda Trespasser spoilers, Pregnancy, depictions of violence, post game spoilers, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-04 09:18:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5328842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tea_and_Snowflakes/pseuds/Tea_and_Snowflakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aurum Lavellan leaves the Inquisition to search for the man she loves. </p>
<p>Before her search even begins she is found by an old acquaintance who had information on Solas, who is being hunted.</p>
<p>She embarks on a long journey to find Solas and protect him and hopefully save him from a grim fate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1.

It had been five days since Inquisitor Aurum Lavellan had defeated Corypheus and sealed the breach; saving Thedas.

 

It had felt like an eternity since Solas had left the battlefield after finding the shattered remains of the orb. He had left like a ghost after Cassandra had called her name from the battlements.

 

She had returned to Skyhold in silence, she rode ahead of the others to avoid their questioning; even Cole sat in silence behind her as they climbed the rocky mountain trail. Aurum had passed through the celebrations in a trance, she kept her practised smile upon her face as she talked to her friends and noble guests before she was finally allowed to escape to her private quarters.

 

Aurum no longer wished to be within the high walls of Skyhold, she no longer wanted to wear the mantle of Inquisitor, Corypheus was dead, the breach and all the rifts were sealed. She was no longer needed.

 

Any letters or problems she let her war council handle.

 

When she slept she tried looking for Solas in the fade, she had been learning from Solas in how to properly find the right spirits to talk to, none of the spirits knew where Solas was.

 

She woke up from her dreams one-night sobbing as a Terror demon showed her, her deepest fears and tore them to shreds. For the rest of that night, she sat in her bed with Cole as he read to her, making her forget the pain of her dream. To forget the look of betrayal on Solas' face as he was ripped to pieces by the demon as it laughed about her failures.

 

She needed to find him. She needed to ask him a thousand questions and tell him a thousand more but not after yelling at him for leaving and wiping Cole's memory of him.

 

On the fifth night, she decided to leave and go after him. She didn't know exactly where to find him except that he went west before the scouts lost him. She would head west, she would try searching the Arbor Wilds and searching the temples or anywhere of interest where Solas may have looked to stay for its history and connection to the veil. She told Josephine and Cullen that she wanted to take Cole to Jader for a couple of days to let him help people there as he did in Val Royeaux. Cole secretly packed away extra supplies and a set of Solas' old robes into the saddle bags of Aurum's Hart; The Pride of Arlathan.

 

She had a plan for when the others would notice her absence. When Leliana's spies came after her she would get Cole to make them forget they saw her or send them off on a wild goose chase. She reasoned with Cole that it would be helping her because finding Solas would heal her hurt.

 

They spent a day in Jader, Aurum shed her outer armour, it was what made her recognisable as the Inquisitor. Aurum sat on a bench in a quiet corner of the market, watching as Cole flitted about fixing people's problems without them really knowing it was his voice in their head giving them a little push or solace.

"Inquisitor." She was pulled from her daydream by a familiar voice. When she looked up she was met with the pale face and golden eyes of the sentinel Abelas, he was still dressed in the same ornate armour; which made him stick out like a shining beacon in the small market square.

"Abelas." She said with a small smile. She sat up straighter and moved to one side of the bench to let him sit. Abelas hesitated or a second before taking the seat. He hadn't changed in the months since he left the Temple of Mythal. "What brings you to Jader?"

"I was on my way to see you, Inquisitor." He said matter-of- factly as if the answer was obvious.

"Oh. Well, it's a good thing that you found me here then. You wouldn't have found me at Tarasly'an Te'las." Abelas blinked at her in confusion when she chose to use Skyhold's elven name.

"You do not use its common name?" He asked, tilting his head slightly in question.

"No, not often. Solas got me too used to using its elven name." She said, looking down at her hands as she played with her fingers nervously.

"Solas. He was the Elvhen that was with you at the Vir'abelasan."

"Yes.”

“I have information about him. That is why I was coming to see you.”

“You have information on him. Do you know where he is?” Her heart began pounding in her chest.

“I do not know his exact whereabouts.” He shifted closer and lowered his voice. “I know of a group of sentinels from the Temple of Mythal who have left the Wilds to hunt him.”

“Hunted? Why?” She said. She started feeling panicked. She wondered why someone would want to hunt him, what could he have done to warrant being hunted.

“This is not a very good place to talk. We need to find somewhere with fewer ears.”

“Ok. We'll go outside the city. Just give me a moment, don't freak out.” She looked off into the crowd. “Cole.” She said quietly. Cole appeared beside her.

“How did he?” Abelas asked.

“This is Cole. It's a long story. I promise to tell you, but we have other things to discuss.” She smiled. “Cole could you go get Keliel and meet us outside the city.”

“Yes, Aurum. Do you have a horse?” He asked Abelas politely.

“I do not have a horse. My mount is a Hart. I believe the stout stable master referred to it as a Wild Hart.”

“I will bring him to you.” Cole said quietly before he disappeared again.


	2. Chapter 2

They walked in silence as they left the city and waited for Cole somewhere secluded.

“Why are your people hunting Solas?”

“They believe he and agent of the Great Betrayer.” He answered simply.

“Why would they believe he is working for the Dread Wolf?” She whispered harshly as if people could overhear; even though they were alone.

“I do not know.” He lied. He knew exactly who Solas really was. Abelas also knew that it wasn't his secret to tell. “Perhaps they blame him for what happened to the Temple. Perhaps they think he was sent to destroy it.”

“Do you think they will come after me too? Do they think I'm one too?”

“No. You are not Elvhen. He is.” He said.

“Right. That.” She said, kicking up a few leaves at her feet. “ I never got around to asking him about that. Do you know where these sentinels might be hunting him?”

“I tracked them to the Emerald Graves. I believe they had set up a camp near Din'an Hanin. Do you know it?”

“Yes. Solas and I have been there before. The Graves are a large area to try and find him.”

“We should hope that we find him before they do. They are intent on killing him.”

“Then we'll have to search quickly then.” Aurum said as she noticed Cole coming up the path with two Harts in tow. Aurum almost smiled when Abelas swiftly mounted the oddly coloured Hart; the purple almost clashed with his golden armour. Cole mounted Aurum's Hart as he always did as he didn't know how to ride.

 

It took another seven days and nights of hard riding to get to the Graves, they only stopped to let the Hart's rest for a while and to take it in turns sleeping, Abelas was far more adept at staying awake for long periods then Aurum was. Luckily she was able to sleep while riding; Abelas led her Hart while Cole kept her upright. One morning she changed from her tunic into a set of Solas' old robes and one of his spare cream coloured tunic's he had left behind.

“Those are Solas'.” Abelas commented as she pulled the wolf pelt over her shoulder and tied it off at the waist.

“Yes. I didn't want to wear my robes as they are too obvious. Solas barely wore these robes so no one will recognise me.” She explained.

“Your Vallaslin is also gone.” He said quietly. He had wanted to ask her about it when he first found her but she had been more concerned with finding Solas.

“Solas took it from me after telling me what it really means.” She said shortly before getting on Keliel and riding off.

 

They managed to make near the entrance of Din'an Hanin without being seen by anything or anyone. They tied their mounts to a tree out of site of the stone archways.

“I do not sense anyone in the camp.” Cole whispered.

“We should take a look around then. See if they have anything that we can use to find them or Solas.” Aurum suggested.

 

The embers of the camp fire were still warm. They found a map of the Graves hidden away in one of the sentinels tents. They seemed to have been methodically scouting the area out, even the Inquisition camps were marked down. It looked like they had gone north from Andruil's wall and scouted up to the northern most part of the Grave whilst staying on the west side of the river before crossing it and continuing. They had marked an area at the northernmost tip of the map where the High Dragon once was before making their way south. Din'an Hanin had been the last place they had searched.

“It looks like they will be heading south. They'll have no choice but to head back over the river once they get to here. It's quite a severe drop.” She said as she pointed out the high cliffs near Chateau d'Onterre.

“We should also assume that they have simply not abandoned the other camp sites. There will be several small groups near these locations searching for Solas.” Abelas added. They had marked out several key locations where they had stayed. In those areas, the sentinels would be able to patrol easily and it would be easier for them to set traps.

“Shall we take the mounts?” Aurum asked Abelas.

“They would have already made significant distance.” With that Cole moved away from them and ran off towards where they had tied the mounts. Meanwhile, Aurum and Abelas set about putting the camp back to the way it was. Abelas led her to the edge of the clearing and cast a spell that disguised their tracks.

“You'll have to teach me that one day.” She said in awe.

“You're people do not know it?”

“We're shadows remember.” She said dryly. Cole reappeared with the mounts, Abelas and Aurum mounted their steeds as Cole set off on foot ahead of them. Abelas followed the tracks that led from the camp towards the south. They fanned out along the trail as they followed them towards the Chateau, they made their way down a rocky embankment near the Chateau gates.

“There, near the cliff edge.” Cole pointed to where the massive boulders of the cliffs edge parted and made a small opening, there wasn't a lot of space to fight, there was also the danger of the cliff and jagged rocks below that posed a danger to Solas' life if the sentinels were to throw him off the edge. _“Pain and panic over old pain and sorrows. They are right to want to kill me.”_

“Solas.” Aurum jumped from her Hart and ran quietly towards the sounds of fighting. Abelas approached from the other side as Cole scaled the boulders above the cliff edge to get above them. 


	3. Chapter 3.

They needed to draw the fight out to them. Aurum could see into the small clearing, Solas was being backed towards the edge of the cliff as he was trying to fend his attackers off, his heavy and slow movements told Aurum that he was injured and starting to flag. She took a deep breath and stepped out into the middle of the boulders.

 

Hoping that Solas hadn't depleted all of his mana, she caught his attention she made a small gesture for him to come to her. It was a signal they had used often in battle, they would use it to tell the other that the enemy was too close and they needed to get away. Calling upon his mana Solas pulled the fade around him and stepped through the sentinels that had surrounded him and stopped just past Aurum.

 

The five sentinels turned around to see where Solas had vanished off to and stopped to see Aurum blocking their path. With their weapons already drawn, they stalked towards the lone mage. She spun her staff over her head before slamming its blade into the ground causing lightning to spark from her and into the sentinels, paralysing them in place. Abelas cast a barrier over Solas as he leaned heavily against his staff with exhaustion. Cole jumped from the boulder and slammed his daggers into one of the sentinels before moving off and attacking another. Aurum and Abelas worked together to keep the fight in the small clearing away from Solas, they used larger spells to target more than one of the elves at a time as Cole hacked and slashed his way between them as they tried to run forwards to attack the two mages but were stopped by Aurum's static cages.

  


Soon the sentinels were all dead before them, Aurum's mana was nearly depleted, she reached into her robes and pulled out three lyrium potions. She turned to leave Cole to pick through the dead as she passed Abelas a vial she felt a shift in the air around her, just like when Cole moved around in stealth in fights. She carefully studied the area around her as she tried to focus. Then she saw it, a subtle distortion of the air where someone was clearly cloaked in shadows. The shadow was moving towards Solas, at the same time Aurum rushed forward to try and get to Solas before it did. She gathered her remaining mana and summoned forth her spirit blade and drove it into the space where the shadow was. The sentinel fell out of the shadows with a cry of pain, Solas too cried out.

“Fen'harel ma halam.” She growled as she pushed the elf back Aurum struck him with the blade of her staff, she only pulled back when Abelas set the sentinel aflame. As his screams became silent she whirled back around to Solas who was now crumpled on the floor clutching at a dagger in his side.

“Solas!” She said frantically as she knelt as his side. She brushed away his hands to inspect the wound.

“Vhenan.” Solas chocked, blood sputtered up over his lips, staining his chin. As he took a breath in he coughed up more blood _'The dagger must have pierced his lung_.' She thought to herself.

“Don't speak Solas, we need to heal you emma lath. Here drink.” She said as she helped him drink a healing potion. She pulled the dagger out and was thankful that it didn't start bleeding again. She frowned as the wound did not close up, nor did any Solas' other wounds, they had simply stopped bleeding. “Why is he not healing?” Abelas crouched next to them to inspect the knife. It dripped with Solas' blood and a thick oily substance.

“He has been poisoned.” Aurum drank down her vial of lyrium as she stood, she blocked out the world and channeled her newly replenished mana, she called upon benign spirits to aid her in healing Solas and purging all poisons from his blood. Her vision turned white as the spell swelled and dissipated. “It did nothing.” Abelas said gruffly.

“Fenhedis!” She swore. She knelt back down beside him, she lowered her head to his chest and listened to his breathing. The wheezing had stopped, but his breathing had become shallow. Cole came over clutching several vials and pouches. Abelas stood and went to the far side of the path they had come from to fetch the mounts.

“They only had these vials and a few herbs.”

“Thank you, Cole. Could you help me bandage him up.” They only used bandaged when they ran out of healing potions and they needed to get back to camp for more, they were a temporary fix.

“ _It's cold and hot. Numbness and tingling all at once. Is this death?_ ” Cole said quietly as he pressed wadding to Solas' forehead. “ _I can not feel my power. I feel empty. Dark, dim, endless. Aurum nuevinen na amahn. I wish I had the strength to tell her, she would fear me because I am the thing she hates most. Heavy weight on my chest wanting to fall free. Ma da'fen, ma vhenan I am Fen'harel. You do not have to fear me. Ir abelas, ar lath ma, ma vhenan'ara. Ir abelas..._ ” Cole's voice grew quiet as Solas lost consciousness and everything went dark.

Aurum quietly sobbed in to her sleeve as she kept bandaging at Solas' confession. The man she loved was the God that her people hated and feared.

 

Aurum had never hated Fen'harel, she had doubted that the stories were ever really true. Stories changed the more they are told. She couldn't understand why he thought she would hate him. Granted he had hidden quite a significant secret from her. Solas knew that she did not fear Fen'harel, she would pay her respects to his shrines, she would even sit against the many statues in the Graves and read by his side at night. Solas himself said that she had a fascinating outlook on the Gods, he had approved when she confessed to him that she didn't entirely believe the stories her people told of the gods.

 

Cole continued to wrap Solas' wounds in bandages, he had to take off Solas' wolf jaw pendent as it would cause him some discomfort as it rested against an open slash across his chest.

“I think you should keep this safe for him.” Cole said as he handed over to her.

“Thank you, Cole.” Aurum said quietly. She looked up to see Abelas stood near by with the mounts.

“Inquisitor, do you know if that shem dwelling is empty?” He asked, gesturing to the chateau.

“It is. We should be safe in there.”

“Cole and I will carry Solas.” Abelas suggested. Aurum nodded, she whistled at Keliel to follow and took Abelas' mounts reins before setting off towards the chateau's gates. Once the gates were closed securely behind them Aurum led the Harts around to a garden at the back of the Chateau where they wouldn't be seen. She met up with Abelas and Cole in the foyer and led them through the massive library to the bedroom quarters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations.  
> Fen'harel ma halam - Dread wolf ends you.  
> Vhenan - My heart.  
> Nuevinen na amahn - I wish you were here.  
> Ma da'fen - My little wolf.  
> Ir abelas - I'm sorry.  
> Ar lath ma - I love you.  
> Ma Vhenan'ara - My hearts desire. 
> 
> I hope I got the translations right. Thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4.

They chose the larger of the two rooms, it was one two levels. The massive bed occupied the top of the small staircase. The room was sparse, there was a fireplace on the upper level, an Orlesian style couch next to the bed and two chests of drawers. Aurum found a small table and set it next to the large bed on the side where Abelas and Cole had placed Solas. The bed had high sides attached to its ornate headboard so one could sit up comfortably. Aurum was thankful that when they came here before they emptied it of all the corpses, both animated and not. It also no longer smelt like death and corruption.

 

After placing him carefully on the bed, Cole found an old chair and broke it up in to pieces for the fire. Aurum set it alight as she instructed him to find clean water, a basin, clean rags and as much Elfroot he could find. The spirit nodded before running off down the halls towards the kitchens.

 

When Cole returned Aurum had cut Solas out of most of his clothes, leaving him in his smalls. She needed to treat and dress the wounds properly.

“Abelas can I ask you a question?” She said as she carefully cleaned away the blood.

“You may.” He said as he helped clean up the blood.

“Do you know who Solas really is. Please don't lie to me.” She asked. Aurum had to be careful with cleaning one side of Solas' face as a bruise marred one of his high cheekbones.

“I know that he is Fen'harel.” He said simply. “I had seen him before, before the fall of Arlathan.”

“I wish he could have trusted me enough to tell me.” She said sadly. Cole left them silently to their conversation. He explored the house, looking for ways the sentinels might find their way in and the best way to defend the room they were in.

“He is hated and feared among your people.”

“I know. Solas knows that I don't hate Fen'harel as I've never truly believed the stories to be true. My clan haven't really liked my fascination with the Dread Wolf. It was a little freeing when I joined the Inquisition because no one judged me when I openly sought out his statues or went looking for a shrine I'd heard about in Dragon territory.”

“What did Solas think of it?”

“He didn't think much of it once I told him that I wanted to simply learn more about Fen'harel and learn who he really was. He wasn't too impressed that I ventured in to Dragon territory on my own, whilst it was still alive.” She smiled as she remembered the telling off she got and that he would have happily joined her if she'd asked.

 

Cole rejoined them a little later with an armful of books and Aurum's other set of robes.

“I thought he might want his robes back.” Cole said with a smile.

“Thank you, Cole.” She quickly changed back in to her other tunic, carefully draping Solas' over a chair by the fire. “We should probably find something to eat.”

“I would not recommend eating anything from this house.” Abelas suggested as he looked around seeing the state of decay everywhere, this house had been abandoned for months, if not longer.

“Well, there are plenty of Nugs, Ram and even Bronto frolicking about.”

“That will take hours to prepare and cook, we have not eaten today. Can Cole go to one of your inquisition camps and procure supplies there.” Abelas suggested. He was correct of course, they had not taken as many rations as they should have so they had been without food for that day. She knew that Cole didn't like to steal unless it was for a good reason.

“Cole, do you mind? It will be quicker if you bring back something that is quick to cook. We can hunt something tomorrow and give some of it to them in return.” Cole added more wood to the fire before making sure the windows were closed securely and Aurum would be safe with just Abelas. He pulled his Wyvern's tooth dagger from its sheath and gave it to her.

“I won't be long.” He said before disappearing. Abelas looked to Aurum with a questioning look.

“You know how to use a blade?”

“I do. When I learnt the ways of Ena'sal'in'amelan, it was suggested to me that I learn different fighting styles so I would get used to being in close quarters combat. Solas, Cole and Cassandra taught me a few things.”

“Will Cole be ok with only one weapon?”

“He won't need it. Anyone he meets won't even remember seeing him.” She explained, on their journey, she had explained Cole's nature and abilities to Abelas. Abelas had found the spirit interesting and had engaged him in long conversations on their long ride.

  


As they waited for Cole's return Aurum scoured the entire house for any books on poison, alchemy or herbs, in general, she didn't leave the room unarmed, her staff was strapped to her back and Cole's dagger was at her hip. When she returned Abelas left to find something to cook over the fire with, he came back with a tall pot stand and a saucepan, along with some fresh water.

“After we have eaten you should rest.” Abelas instructed.

“I will, but you and Cole will need sleep too.”

“We will take it in turns.”

“Good. I don't need either of you collapsing from exhaustion.” Aurum stripped down to the thin tunic and leggings that she wore under her armour and climbed in to the bed next to Solas and sat up against the headboard. She asked Abelas to bring her over some of the books she'd bought in. Abelas bought up a chair from the lower level and sat it by the fire and began working his way through the stack that Cole had brought in earlier.


	5. Chapter 5.

Later Cole returned with some fresh meat, vegetables and tea. Cole and Abelas worked together to create a simple stew. They made enough for the four of them, just in case Solas woke up and felt like eating.

The bed was large enough that Cole could sit in bed with Aurum comfortably as they read through the growing stack of books. Cole would only get out of bed to get more books or to make Aurum some tea.

“Solas wanted to tell you.” Cole said quietly as he rested his head on her shoulder.

“You don't know that.” She said as she flipped through another useless book.

“He keeps repeating it, it's almost too quiet to hear and sometimes his words get jumbled up, but I can feel what he wants.” Aurum frowned and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead, his skin felt like it was on fire.

“He has a fever.” She said as she cast a small frost spell on her palm before holding on to a rag that Cole had given her to cool and press to his head to help bring his temperature down. “Cole, in the forest you said something about his power. Do you understand what he meant?”

“He couldn't feel his magic to cast with. The poison is stopping it from coming back. It's very dull now, not like before when it was bright like your mark.”

“If he's not able to replenish his mana then it could be a variant of Magebane.” She pondered, she searched through the stack of discarded books at her feet for the one she had seen the reference for Magebane in.

“Yes, but does it feel different too, like when Cassandra strikes down a mage with her power, their power fades and they are dull too.”

“Abelas could you pass me one of my lyrium potions, please.” She asked, he rose from his seat and picked up one of the blue vials from the table and brought it over to her, “Ma serannas. Let's just hope this doesn't kill him.” She uncorked the vial and gently lifted his head and gave him a small dose before putting the bottle down again.

“Nothing changed.” Cole said glumly from behind her.

“Damn. I know it might not provide me with anything, but I will try and find him in the fade, or try and find someone who might have an answer.”

“Be careful, you do not wish to attract a demon.” Abelas warned.

“I know. I've done this before.”

“I will watch over her.” Cole offered. “If anything happens that she can't wake herself from I will wake her.”

“Ok. I shall continue reading, if everything goes well I will wake you in the morning.” He took off his gauntlets and checked on Solas' temperature. Aurum noticed that he had fainter lines of Vallaslin trailing along his long fingers and up his hand to vanish under his sleeve. She wondered if Mythal's markings were all over his body.

“Thank you Abelas.” She said softly as she lay down. Cole stayed by her side and continued to read. Before drifting off the sleep, Aurum moved forward and pressed a feather-light kiss to Solas' cheek.

 

Aurum found herself dreaming in the Graves. Everything looked different and older. There were fewer trees, but everything was still breathtakingly beautiful. She wandered along the path until it took her to a small grove that she knew was near a place where a Fen'harel statue stood alone. When she first discovered she found that it was larger than the others and seemed to be used as a shrine as there were offerings and incense. Now as she stood in the clearing she did not find a stone statue of a wolf, she found a real one. A massive black wolf lay where the statue had stood in the real world. It's six blood red eyes almost looked sad and defeated as it stared at her.

“Fen'harel. Is that really you?” She asked carefully. The wolf bowed its large head as if to say yes. She took a tentative step forward, she reached a hand up and held it steadily near his nose.

Fen'harel softly touched his nose to her palm. Somehow she could sense that it was Solas. “Emma lath.” She sobbed as she stroked his face, his fur was thick and soft between her fingers.

“We're working hard to try and heal you.” Fen'harel whined and pressed his head further in to her palm. “This poison isn't killing you or at least not quickly. I think it's stopping you from casting.” The wolf huffed and lay his head against his paws. Aurum sat down in front of him and took in her surroundings. Everything was so bright and peaceful. They stayed like that for what felt like hours as they watched memories and spirits float by.

“I don't know what to do next.” She confessed. Fen'harel lifted his head and pressed his nose to the centre of her breastplate, he looked up at her with a hopeful gaze; he hoped that she would understand. She looked down and saw that she was wearing her inquisition breastplate with its flaming eye with a sword through it.

“The Inquisition?” She asked. He huffed and bowed his head. “I won't go back. Not now. Not when you're like this.” She growled as she pulled back, Fen'harel's low whine made her stop. He sounded hurt and sad.

“I will send for them instead, they can help me figure out what this poison is and how to cure it.” She shuffled forward and pulled his head in to her lap, she smiled when he didn't pull away and nuzzle further in to her lap. “You need to wake up soon, there are many things I wish to tell you and things that I need to shout at you for.” Fen'harel gave a huff then a small bark as if he were chuckling.

Again they sat in silence for a while. Aurum was so used to listening to Solas talk about his memories in the fade or about a spirit he'd met, that she wasn't used to being the one who held up a conversation. Her stories weren't as exciting.

 

Soon she felt the pull of the waking world, she bowed her head and kissed the great wolf, he replied in kind by licking the hand closest to his mouth.

“Ar islan na vhenan. Mi'nas'sal'inan.” She said softly as she felt herself wake up.

 

When she woke the sun was already streaming through the tall windows, she found herself curled in to Solas' side, when she realised she was curled against his injured side she gently moved back.

“Did you sleep well.” Abelas asked.

“Yes thank you. I found Solas. We had a very one side conversation.” She sat up and stretched. Cole went over to the fire to heat some water as he knew that Aurum would want tea.

“What do you mean?”

“He was a wolf. He seemed to want me to go to the inquisition for help with the poison.”

“Is that wise? We have been avoiding them.”

“True.” She said as she moved across the room to take her tea from Cole. “But I have people there that can find out more than I can because they have spies and contacts that I don't even know about.”

“Can you trust these spies.”

“Yes. I'll contact them about the poison and send for Bull, Dorian and Cullen to help us with our sentinel problem. You should sleep.”

“I shall go next door.” Abelas said as he rose from his seat.

“No, we all stay in here when we sleep. You can sleep on the couch.”

“Very well.” Abelas moved to the window where the couch was and pulled the curtains closed, he removed his armour and stacked it neatly on the floor, he was left in his tunic and trousers. He was tall and broad like Solas even without the armour on. Like Solas, his head was bare, his Vallaslin covered the sides of his skull in long elegant lines; leaving the top and back of his scalp bare.

 

Soon Aurum was the only one left awake, she knew that Cole would join her soon as he only slept a couple of hours at a time. She sat at the foot of the bed with a large book to lean on to write her letters back to Skyhold. She would start with the easiest letter to write; a letter to Cullen.

" _Dear Cullen,_

_I need your help, Commander. I left Skyhold to find Solas. I need you, Dorian and Bull to meet me by Andruils wall in the Graves as quickly as you can._

_Cole will tell me when you are close. Yours Aurum_."

Aurum signed her name and then doodled a lions head and a wolfs head next to each other to let him know that it was really her. She hated being so brief, but she couldn't risk telling him about Solas, lest the message was intercepted by the enemy. As that letter dried she took a deep breath and steeled herself for what she needed to write next to Leliana.

 

" _Nightingale._

_I have found Solas. He is hurt and poisoned. I have sent two vials of the poison that was used on the knife that stabbed him. I need to know all there is about it. Please ask Vivienne to look in to its alchemical components. Varric and Sera can use their contacts to see where this stuff came from and who is making it. They need to know that it drains mana, it stops it from replenishing. Magic is not healing him properly. I can only stem the bleeding for a little time with healing potions or Elfroot. Solas has a fever and his blood smell acrid when we change his bandages, it could be an infection._

_The sentinels that we encountered in the Arbor Wilds did this I need you and your spies to find out if they are operating anywhere else other than here in the Emerald Graves. We have found several places where they might be camping around looking for him. I need to know why they are doing this. Abelas, another sentinel who is helping me and who came and found me thinks they are hunting him because he let the temple fall to ruin._

_Please tell the Commander of this letter, I was a little too brief with him._

_Please tell Cassandra that I need her there so that if your digging brings up any leads she can investigate with the others and punch them if need be._

_And please tell Josie to stop worrying, if people are starting to panic, tell her to tell them I have taken some time to myself to travel and have some peace, I am safe here with Cole and Abelas._

_Aurum_."

The inquisitor examined the letter over and over again. When the ink was dry she rolled it up and put it in one of the metal tubes that her spies carried along with the vials. She sealed Leliana's tube with magic and set it on the bed. She then reached over and tickled Cole's foot to wake him. It took a couple of tries before Cole flinched away and awoke with a soft giggle.

 

"Cole can you take this to the nearest camp and give it to Sam. Tell him it's from me and that it's urgent." She said softly.

 

"Ok. Do you want me to wake Abelas."

 

"No. It's fine. We'll be ok." She smiled. Before he left he went to the table and bought her his dagger.

During her vigil, she changed Solas' bandages two times and his fever had become worse. As she sat and read and watched over Solas, Cole returned and slept or he silently went for a walk through the house checking for hidden treasures. He went out and hunted a ram, he split it in half and gave one-half to the camp where he'd taken the food from and took the other half back the chateau. He spent an hour in the dusty kitchen preparing the meat before he bought it back up on the spit and cooked it in the fire in the other bedroom as the fire was bigger and he didn't want to disturb Abelas.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations  
> Emma lath - My love.  
> Ar islan na vhenan - I need you my heart.  
> Mi'nas'sal'inan - I feel the knife once more within my soul.


	6. Chapter 6.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short interlude as we return to Skyhold.

Three nights later Leliana received her reports from her spies in the Dales, the letter from the Inquisitor was with them. Soon Cullen was coming up the stairs to her desk with a letter in his hand and a concerned look on his face.

"Ah Commander, I was just about to send for you."

"I do hope that you got a less vague letter." He sighed as he noticed Leliana holding on to a piece of paper covered in Aurum's messy handwriting.

"Yes it is very troubling news, it seems that Solas has been attacked and poisoned. Aurum is with him now. She wants us to find out how to counteract the poison within him." She said as she handed him over a vial of thick turquoise liquid.

"Do you know who did it? Did she say?"

"The sentinels that we encountered in the Wilds, they seemed to have taken over the Graves in search of him."

"I have never seen such a poison." He said with a troubled look. Leliana beckoned over one of her scouts and asked them to fetch the members of the inner circle that were mentioned in the letters and take them to the war room.

  


Within minutes, everyone was in the war room, including Cassandra and Josephine.

"What is the meaning of this Leliana." The ambassador had asked when several of them had passed through her office.

"I will explain everything, join us if you wish." The spymaster answered smoothly, Cassandra had followed Bull and Sera when they rushed off through the courtyard after a scout.

"We've asked some of you to come here because the Inquisitor has located Solas and he needs our help. He has been attacked by the sentinels from the Arbor Wilds with a poison that I have never encountered before." Cullen explained. He passed the two vials around the war room table. "Bull, Dorian and I have been asked to go to the Graves ourselves. There seem to be more groups of sentinels out there and they may eventually find her."

"The rest of you are being charged with finding out what this poison is made of, what effects it has on a person and how we cure it. We do not have a lot of time as the life of one of our own is in the balance. Lady Vivienne, I am to give you a vial so you can try and determine it's alchemical compounds, I have copied down the symptoms that Solas is exhibiting down with it. Varric and Sera, you have been asked to use your contacts and find out where this poison is coming from." Leliana explained as she walked around the table to give Vivienne a vial and a small piece of paper.

"Do you know where she is?" Dorian asked.

"No. She set a meeting point. She probably kept her true location secret in case the message was intercepted." Cullen answered.

"I'll raid the library downstairs and leave the rest for you to go through."

"Ok, meet me in the stables as soon as you can."

"Dorian my dear you may take the books on poisons if you like, I just need the books on alchemy and herbology if I am to deconstruction this vile poison. I will also use Dagna's vast knowledge if I am permitted."

"Of course. Aurum would probably like as many people that she trusted looking in to this." Everyone seemed to notice when Lady Morrigan was not brought up as everyone knew that Aurum did not trust her.

"Please feel free to check the bookshelves in my office and the Inquisitors room. I am also sure that if you ask nicely Commander Cullen will let you look at his books too." Josephine suggested. Cullen just sighed and nodded.

"Why thank you, my ladies, my kind sir." He bowed slightly as he turned to leave.

"I'll go with him. I'll be able to carry more than him anyway." Bull offered as he too left to go to the rotunda before scouring the many other bookshelves.

 

An hour later Bull and Dorian arrived at the stables laden with books and a few other supplies. They loaded them up on to the three Taslin Striders Master Dennet had ready for them. Cullen also had their armour and weapons ready for them.


	7. Chapter 7.

As the days passed Aurum became more anxious. She knew that it would have taken a couple of days for the letters to arrive and then a few days for them to arrive in the Graves if they rode hard, but she couldn't quash the sinking feeling that she had. Solas was not getting better. Abelas starting giving her questioning looks when she began to flee from the room each morning, on the third day she took him to one side.

“Why do you keep running from the room?” He asked.

“I'm with child,” She confessed. “Please don't say anything to Solas when he wakes.” She pleaded.

“Is it his?”

“Yes.”

“Why have you not told him?”

“I only found out after he...he ended the relationship we were in. After that, he barely wished to talk to me about personal matters. When I did finally get a promise to talk, he vanished.”

“I see.”

“Just promise you won't tell him.”

“I promise.”

“Ma serannas Abelas.”

 

One night Cole approached because he wanted to know why she was so sad about having a child, she had to assure him that she was only sad because Solas wasn't waking, she was then also afraid that once he was healed he would leave her again.

On the fourth day, Aurum was sat alone on the bedroom as Abelas and Cole were making sure the house was safe and looking for food. The sudden movement of Solas slowly moving his hand to wipe away the heavy feeling of the fade startled Aurum.

"Solas," She said quietly as she carefully got out of bed and fetched him a cup of water, "Here, only small sips." She said as she helped him to sit and drink. The first thing he noticed when he sat up was the lancing pain in his side and chest.

"Garas Quenathra?" He croaked. He was thankful for the beds high sideboards for him to slump against as it hurt to stay sat upright.

"Abelas found me and warned me Vhenan. He told me you were being hunted." She said frowning.

"I can not feel my mana."

"No, the poison is stopping your mana replenishing. It is also stopping your wounds from closing properly so we've had to change your bandages regularly."

"We?"

"Abelas and Cole. Hopefully in a couple of days Cullen, Dorian and Bull will be here."

"Why are they coming?"

"There are more sentinels out there and I need their strength and knowledge to beat them and this. The others are trying to figure out what the poison is, where it came from and how we cure you."

Solas thought back on his time trapped in the fade, he remembered seeing Aurum and remembering her using his other name. He couldn't think of how she might have known it was really him. "Did you really come to me in my dreams?" He asked after a moments silence.

"I did."

"So then you saw me for who I really am." A deep sadness filled his eyes; he was certain she would hate him, that she would finish the sentinels job and kill him.

"I did yes. Cole may have given away your secret when he picked up on your pain and did what Cole does best and you confessed it to me."

"I confessed that I was Fen'harel? What else did I say?" He asked, he felt slightly confused and worried that she wasn't reacting differently.

"Yes. You also said that you wanted to tell me that you were the Dread Wolf, but you were afraid to because you thought I would fear you and hate you. You then went on to tell me you loved me and you were sorry before you passed out and started talking gibberish, mostly elven that I didn't understand."

"I thought you would fear my because of what your people have taught you about me."

"For a smart man, you can be a very stupid man sometimes." She smiled. "I am more saddened that you didn't think you could trust me enough to share it with me. Did you think that I visited every statue, risked my life to find a shrine and even bugged you for stories about him out of reverence and fear so that the big bad wolf wouldn't take me away and eat me." She said as her smile grew wider. She perched herself carefully next to Solas on the bed.

“Ir abelas, I misjudged you yet again. If I can be honest I thought you'd still be angry when you found out.” He edged his hand towards hers on the mattress but stopped just centimetres from touching her.

“I am angry. If you were well enough to be punched, I'd punch you. For this, for leaving and for what you did to Cole, but I have other things to focus on. There are more sentinels out there and you need curing. Plus the sentinels have pissed me off for trying to kill you.” Tears fell past her lashes as she left some of her anger creep past her mask of calm.

“I'm sure the sentinels will pay greatly for angering you.” He tried to smile, but the pain in his jaw stopped him. “Vhenan, do you think you could ask Cole to go to one of the camps and find a surgeons kit.” He asked as his wounds began to throb.

“Why?”

“I am not healing and potions will not sustain me forever. I need the surgeons kit to stitch my wounds. It may not heal me completely, but it will help until I get my power back.”

“Ir abelas ma sa'lath, I didn't think of that.” She cried.

“Hush.” He carefully lifted his hand to cup her cheek. “There is nothing to apologise for.”

“Cole.” She called. Moments later Cole appeared by the bed. “Cole I need you to venture in to camp and fetch a surgeons kit and anything we may need to stitch Solas up. Take some gold with you and bring back some more food and healing potions.”

“Do you want them to remember me?” He asked as he took some gold from her pouch.

“No. I don't want to put them in danger if the sentinels are watching the camps. Don't put yourself in danger either.” She said as she took hold of his hand.

“I won't.” He said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. The dagger that he lent her was still on the table on Solas' side of the bed. As Cole left Aurum got up and quickly warmed up a bowl of stew with a fire spell for Solas.

“Is there any tea emma lath?” Solas asked.

“You must be very troubled if you are willingly asking for tea.” She joked as she handed him the bowl of stew. She went back to the fire and added more pieces of broken furniture as she quickly boiled water with more magic. She added tea to the pot that Cole had found and poured the water over the leaves and let them steep.

“For the first time, it was not a pleasant time for me to be in the Fade. I had to change my shape to protect myself. Your visit bought me some solace.”

“I tried finding you, but I couldn't. I wish I could have been there to make it a little less distressing.”

“You are here now. That is all the solace I need.” He said as he gently blew on a spoonful of stew and ate it slowly. “This is wonderfully cooked.”

“Abelas and Cole have been doing a good job in hunting and cooking. Sadly there are very few vegetables around so Cole has to keep going in to camp. He leaves them parts of the Ram he hunts or coin so it is a fair trade.”

“Have you eaten today?” He asked as she poured out two cups of tea.

“I ate this morning, but I haven't eaten recently.”

“I won't eat all of this. Join me.” He held out the spoon to her. Knowing that there was no arguing with him she took it from him and ate a few spoonfuls before giving it back.

“I see you have made quite the home out of this room.” He said as he noticed the extra furniture and the stacks of books scattered around, on the far side of the room near the chests of drawers he could see that Aurum had erected a screen that hid where a bath had been placed.

“Yes, Cole and I have been sleeping next to you. While Abelas prefers to sleep on the couch next to the window.”

  


The conversation had fallen in to silence by the time that Cole had returned, he placed the food on the desk on the lower level. He bought the surgeons kit and the rest of the healing supplies to the bed.

“I'll get Abelas to stitch you up.” She said as she began to get up off the bed.

“No da fen. I want you to do it.” He said as he reached up to grab her wrist. “You've done this before.”

“I have, but it was only ever on small injuries. The Keeper handled anything else. I don't know if I can do this. Ar din nuevinen na'din.”

“You can do it. You certainly won't kill me.” He said with a reassuring look. “I trust you.” He said as he reached out for her hand. Aurum sighed and linked her fingers with his.

"Ok, but I want Cole and Abelas to be in here with me in case something goes wrong." She said as she let go of his hand and darted around the room gathering sheets to place under Solas. As Cole disappeared she lay them out on the opposite side of the bed and helped him move carefully over, he almost passed out again from the pain. Abelas and Cole returned soon after she had set up the surgeons kit, a bowl for dirty rags, a bowl of clean water and several new bandages alongside the elfroot and healing potions.

"I will rub the wound with some elfroot to numb some of the pain hopefully. Abelas and Cole will be here to make sure you don't move or try and stop me. Cole will also listen to you if you fall unconscious." She explained as Abelas moved to kneel on the bed on the other side of Solas to hold his shoulders down. Cole stood at the foot of the bed to hold his legs still.

 

Aurum decided to begin with his head wound, she began by spitting the roots of the elfroot and spreading it juices around the wound to numb the area. Thankfully the wound in his head only needed a couple of stitches. She had to growl at him a couple of times to stay still. When she was done she rewarded him with a small peck on his unbruised high cheek bone.

 

She moved on to the slash across his chest. She repeated the process of numbing the area with elfroot. She started off stitching slowly and carefully but as Solas' grunts and hisses of pain got worse she sped up without ruining her technique.

 

Before she moved on she recast her frost rune on the mattress to keep Solas cool as his fever had not died down. Solas reached out and stroked her long hair with his hand.

"Cole hold down his hips. This is going to be painful." She warned as she pierced the curved needle through his skin, she continued to work even with Solas' hand in her hair. When he clenched his hand and pulled she paused and grunted in pain. Abelas went to take his hand away, but she stopped him.

"It's fine. He's being quiet at least."

  


When she was finally done she cleaned his heated skin with cool water. She smiled as he sighed in exhausted relief. Abelas wrapped his bandages as Aurum continued cleaning.

"You should rest Solas."

“Will you join me?” He asked sleepily.

“How will I find you?”

  
“Dream of Din'an Hanin. You will know where to find me.” Aurum lay a sheet over where Solas had been laying and settled over it. She watched as sleep slowly claimed Solas. She swiftly followed after him, she didn't really realise how truly exhausted she felt.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations-  
> Garas Quenathra? - Why are you here?/ Why have you come?  
> Ma sa'lath - My one love  
> Ma serannas - My thanks.


	8. Chapter 8.

As she drifted off she thought about the temple. Soon she found herself there, it was as it used to be, the walls and statues were gilded in gold. As she descended in to the lower levels she began to worry that she would not be able to find Solas.

 

She moved through a familiar doorway, she looked up and saw the two wolf statues mirrored against each other with their heads raised in a baleful howl. When she looked back she noticed Fen'harel curled up by the stone bannister by the statue of Mythal.

“This place is beautiful.” The wolf got up slowly and padded over towards her. When he stood his shoulder was level with her head. Which wasn't a hard feat but it was still impressive and a little intimidating. Fen'harel gently rested his head on her shoulder. Aurum wound her arms around his neck and buried her face in his fur. As she inhaled his scent she began to sob. Fen'harel pulled back with a low whine, his eyes were full of concern and worry. He settled back down to the floor and gently took her sleeve between his massive jaws and tugged her to the floor with him. Aurum collapsed in to his side and curled up in to his side and she continued to cry. The wolf bent his head and licked away the tears on her exposed cheek.

“I'm sorry. I just have so many emotions roiling around inside of me. I just needed to let it out.” She sniffled. Fen'harel huffed quietly and curled around her to make her feel safe and warm. He wished that he had his powers back, so he could soothe her with more than what he was now. She needed Solas, not the wolf that she was huddled against as her quiet sobs shook her.

 

The next morning Aurum felt as if one heavy weight had been lifted but then another had taken its place. She rose from bed, washed and ate her breakfast.

“You need to talk to him,” Cole said, “He wants to tell you things, but he's afraid. He thinks that once he tells you, you'll abandon him because that's what he thinks he deserves.”

“Then we both share the same fears then.” She sighed.

“You shouldn't be afraid of what you have to tell him. It will make him happy.”

“Why do I get the feeling that what he wants to tell me won't make me happy?” Cole looked down at his hands as be picked at his nails.

He stepped forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You'll be fine.” He said as he disappeared.

“Not very comforting.” She grumbled to herself.

After he vanished Solas slowly woke up to the sound of people talking. As she heard Solas move she prepared some tea for herself and enough for him if he wanted it.

“On dhea.” He said quietly.

“Would you like some tea?”

“Please. You said there were some things that you wanted to tell me.” Aurum put the tea down on a chest of drawers and helped Solas sit up, she piled pillows around him to keep him upright. She brought the tea back over and handed him a cup before sitting at the foot of the bed.

“I do. According to Cole, there is something you want to tell me too.”

“There is.” He said as he sipped his tea and frowned at its taste. “Would you like to go first. You seemed quite troubled last night, I fear that I did not console you as much as I hoped.”

“I'd prefer it if you said what you wanted to say first.” She said as she prepared herself for what might come.

“When I woke from my long slumber, my powers were weakened. I was too weak to unlock my foci.” Solas took in a deep breath and steeled himself for whatever came next. He would tell her the truth; even if it meant loosing her forever. “The orb that Corypheus carried was mine. I had hoped that when he unlocked the orb the resulting explosion would kill him. I didn't foresee him living, or that so many lives would be lost because of it.” He watched as her mahogany eyes became darker with anger.

“You gave Corypheus your orb?” She said as her blood ran cold. Everything that had happened since the conclave had been his fault.

“I did indirectly. Please understand that I had no other option.”

“Of course, you had other options. Why didn't you follow Corypheus to the conclave? You could have taken the orb from him then.” She seethed. She stood abruptly and stalked around the bed before launching her mug in to the fire. “How could you be so stupid.” She growled.

“I didn't think-” He started.

“Of course, you didn't.” She fumed, “If your plan had worked out and Corypheus had died while unlocking the orb, what was your plan after? If you care so much about me, tell me the truth.”

“Before the fall of Arlathan, I sought to set my people free from slavery to would-be gods. I broke the chains to all who wished to join. The false gods called me Fen'harel and when they finally went too far by killing Mythal in their bid for more power I created the veil to imprison them for eternity as a punishment fit for doing such an atrocity. It is not easy to kill the first of my kind, as you have seen, creating the veil banished the Evanuris, but it also took everything from the elven people.”

“How did the Evanuris even become known as gods?” She asked as she paced between the fire, trying to process everything.

“Slowly. After the war they became generals and respected elders, eventually they became kings, and then gods.”

“So they got too power hungry, killed one of their own and you banished them. That was then, what happens now?”

“My people fell for what I did, but still some hope remains. Once I regain my power, I want to save my people, even it means this world must die.” He said solemnly.

“What? Why? This world dying is NOT the answer. There is another way to save them.”

“It is not a good answer, but sometimes terrible choices are all that remain.”

“Are you insane? Are we not even people to you? Do we not matter?” She snarled.

“At first, when I awoke it was like walking through a sea of Tranquil, people's conscious connection to the fade and been cut; it pained me to see people like this. You've shown me that I'm wrong and that despite not having a conscious connection to the fade as we once did your people are still capable of great things.”

“You need to come up with a better plan, one that doesn't involve tearing down the veil and, in consequence, releasing the Evanuris and killing countless innocent people. A plan that doesn't involve me just killing you now.” She growled lowly as energy crackled at her fingertips as anger boiled in her veins.

 

Aurum turned when she heard the door open, she turned to see Abelas at the door looking concerned as he had heard Aurum shout from in the library. “It's fine Abelas, we're just talking.” She said with a weak smile as she tried to calm herself, after a few heartbeats he nodded and turned to leave.

 

As he closed the door a wave of nausea hit Aurum, she darted for the window and wrenched it open so she could be sick. Heat rose on her cheeks and the tips of her ears as the heaving stopped. She slowly pushed herself back inside and pushed the window closed none to gently.

“Are you ill Aurum?” Solas asked, their argument was swiftly forgotten and a fear for her well-being replaced it, he watched from the bed as she moved sluggishly to the small table by the fire.

“No, I am not _ill_.” She said her voice was still laced with venom, she poured herself some water to drain away the foul taste in her mouth. “I'm with child Solas.” She said bluntly. She watched as Solas became paler than he already was.

“How long have you known?” He whispered.

“After I summoned Mythal. She congratulated me and told me that motherhood was a greater challenge than defeating Corypheus.”

“And you did not think to tell me?” He said quietly, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“I tried!” She exclaimed, slamming her mug down on the table. “I tried talking to you over and over again, but you would brush me off with some excuse or tell me that I must sharpen my pain and use it against Corypheus when all I wanted to tell you was that I was pregnant. When I finally got you to promise to talk about things you vanished. I'm afraid that once you're cured you will do as you have done previously and leave without a trace.” She angrily wiped away at the tears that fell, she balled her hands in to fists to try and stop her hands from shaking.

“I do not think I can apologise enough for all the grief I have caused you.” He pushed himself to move closer towards her, he only succeeded in making it to the other side of the bed, even though he wanted to stand up and hold her. “I have made so many grave mistakes in my life.” He paused to taken in a shaky breath, dragging himself along the bed was hard on his injuries, “You are right, I need to come up with a different way to save the elves, I need to make things right and I need to do it without killing innocent people. I thought that it was right for me to leave you, I thought it was kinder because we had not been together long but I was wrong, it only wounded us both further because I knew how much we truly cared for one another. You are unlike any other. I have not seen wisdom and strength like yours in millennia. I did not lie to you when I told that everything between us was real.” He said as tears of his own fell. “Ar lath ma, ma vhenan'ara, ma sa'lath. Ma'las.” He wept.

“A'las.” She repeated. When she finally looked up at him she was taken aback at his weeping, she had never seen him so openly emotional.

“Yes. I need to make amends in this world and you have shown me a different path. You give me hope that I can change.”

“Just like that? You've changed your mind.”

“I have never had anyone challenge me as you have, and not just in this matter. You give me hope and cause that I can finally do something right without destroying everything. You have my deepest apologies for the pain I have caused you Aurum.”

“I'm not the only one you need to apologise to and make amends with.”

“Of course, I should not have done that to Cole.” He said, his voice cracking as he tried to rein in his emotions.

“No, you shouldn't have. You were his friend and you abandoned him. He's been through too much, so much that he made himself forget his pain, his past and Rhys and Evangeline, it broke my heart to see him do that. He needed you and you did that to him. I'm all he has left.”

“I know, I will make amends I promise. Just like I hope I will fix things between us.”

“I may not be as forgiving as Cole.” She warned.

“I understand. I do not wish to leave your side, ever again.” He vowed. Cole tentatively poked his head around the door, he could feel so much pain between them it was becoming too loud to ignore.

 

Aurum tore her eyes away from Solas and went over to where Cole was standing.

“Cole when I'm finished talking to Solas can I meet you in the ballroom, please?”

“You want to work through some of your anger by fighting?” He guessed as he sensed how angry she was and he knew how she usually dealt with it. “Fighting with me makes you laugh.” He said with a smile, whenever they sparred they made a game of it and he liked how she always ended up smiling and laughing.

“Yes, I think I need it, don't you. I'm sure there's something in this house that we can use as a training sword.” She hoped that she would end up laughing, she sparred with Cole after a stressful day of war council meetings, the stress wasn't as heavy as her anger and heart break.

“He does love you. He may have kept secrets, but his words are the truth. He wants to change. He's lighter now the old sorrow has worked it's way free, you helped him be lighter. He's thankful for that.” Cole drew her in to a hug as he felt pain spike through her heart and more tears fell.

“I know Cole. It's just going to take me a while to let him back in.” She said as she wrapped her arms around him.

“You should probably check on Solas. He's feeling sad and in pain, he moved too much and now he can't get back without it hurting too much.” She sighed heavily and reached and to peck him on the cheek before letting him go.

 

She looked back towards the bed to see that Solas had swung his legs over the side of the bed and had his face buried in his hands. As she moved back towards him she grabbed his spare tunic and a pair of trousers that Cole had found around the chateau from the chair and fished his jawbone necklace from his robes and took it to the bed.

“I hope you haven't ripped out any stitches.” She said as she sat next to him, her face was blank and emotionless, it was the face she used when she was talking to people she talked to usually before she killed them. She placed the clothes on her other side to check his stitches. She was pleased that there was no bleeding and the stitches were holding together nicely, she was glad that he was no longer at the risk of bleeding to death.

“I feel dizzy.” He mumbled. His usual honeyed complexion had turned a sickly shade of ecru, he had patches of blush high on his cheeks and at the tips of his ears, it was caused by the fever.

“You've moved too much.” She felt his forehead, he was still too hot. She reached back for the rag she'd been using and cooled it before pressing it to his scorched skin. “Can you hold yourself up?” She asked as she put the rag back down on the bed, he nodded slowly. “Good. I need to give you a wash to try and cool you down.” She got up and brought back over a bowl of cool water and two wash cloths. “Hold on to me if you need to.” She said quietly. She began with carefully cleaning his head, where his stitches were not covered as it was only a superficial wound. Solas sighed as she gently wiped away the exposed parts of his back and chest.

“Do you really love me still?” She asked as she sank to her knees in front of him and rinsed and wrung out the rag to begin again on his arms.

“I do. I can understand if your feelings have changed.”

“They have, you can't just tell me everything like you have and expect me to still love you, in the same way, it's going to take a long time to get over the pain you've caused, but part of me still loves you Solas.” Solas rested his hand on her shoulder as she washed his legs and feet. When she was finished she pushed the bowl to one side and looked up at Solas from where she kneeled. He was just as broken as she was, the weight of what he had done to the Evanuris sat heavily on his heart, and now he bore the weight of betraying Aurum and breaking her heart, something that had hurt him just as much as it hurt her.

 

She slowly raised herself up and wrapped her arms around his neck as she hugged him, as broken as her heart was and as angry as she felt, she couldn't stand seeing Solas in so much pain, the thought of him dying to the poison hurt her more than Solas' confession ever could. Solas froze for a brief second before gently wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in to her neck, his pain was momentarily forgotten when he inhaled her familiar and comforting scent.

“You are a stupid fool Solas. You're a stupid fool and a teldirthalelan. I am still very angry with you.” She said shortly. Solas smiled in to her shoulder.

“I am vhenan. I am willing to let you teach me not to be.” He said lightly.

“I'm sure we'll try and figure something out.” She pulled away and picked up the tunic Cole had found him. She helped him dress in the loose and slightly musty trousers before helping him move to sit back against the headboard; she decided that trying to get him in to his tight tunic would be too much for him. “You need to drink some more water.” She said. Solas felt exhausted and on the brink of falling back to sleep. Being bathed by Aurum had been soothing.

“How long will you fight with Cole for?” He asked sleepily.

“I don't know, I have a lot of anger to work out, I don't think sparring with Cole is going to be a therapeutic as it usually is.”

“Would you mind if I came to watch?”

“Only if you think you can make it.”

“If I recall there is a high-backed chair on the upper level. I could sit in that and watch you over the balustrade.”

“Fine. Abelas can carry you.”

 

In the ballroom, Aurum found Cole leaning against the dance floors balustrade with four dagger length sticks. Up on the balcony, Abelas had helped Solas in to chair where he could see the floor below. His view was a little obstructed, but he felt a little better for being out of the dark room. After a few playful hits and parries, Aurum and Cole got in to a steady rhythm. They danced around each other blocking each others blows or gracefully dancing out of the way.

“Aurum told me that you taught her how to fight when she became an Ena'sal'in'amelan.” Abelas commented as he observed the pair on the lower level, Solas moved forward in his seat to lean against the balustrade.

“Yes, I taught her how to fight when her stave, for if she ever got caught in close quarters without her mana. Cole taught her how to fight with daggers. He also taught her to be perceptive, that it how she knew where the Sentinel Shadow was. Cassandra taught her how to fight hand to hand, she thought it would be more valuable to learn than getting her to learn how to fight with a sword and shield.”

“She is very skilled.”

“We were all once skilled in such techniques.”

“Yes. It is just unusual to see it again.”

“Much has changed.” They watched in silence as Cole vanished in to the shadows and moved silently around the room for Aurum to watch and find. Aurum slowly turned about, searching for the slightest shift in the air. Cole changed directions each time Aurum looked right at him. He would also move past her and swing at her. Each time she would catch it and dance out of the way.

“Why do you call her da'fen?”

“I chose it as a joke, she would curl up against the wolf statues and purposely seek them out.”

“She told me. She also mentioned a shrine.”

“Yes. She was fortunate that the dragon did not sense her. She told me she liked them so much because they looked so peaceful, she told me it looked nothing like the bringer of nightmares she was told about as a child.” Solas explained, his attention was drawn back to the lower level as moments later Cole made a pass at her and she caught it early. She danced out of the way and gently swatted him in the back. Cole playfully yelped in surprise as he emerged from the shadows. They continued sparring for nearly another hour. Each time Aurum would catch a glimpse of Solas above her she fought more aggressively, her laughing and smiling stopped. Cole quickly caught on to her anger and distracted her, he attacked her more fiercely, making her concentrate and forget about Solas and Abelas above them. By the time they were finished, she was exhausted and smiling again.

 

Abelas helped Solas back in to the bedroom. Solas asked to sit in one of the chairs scattered around so that he could eat out of bed. Aurum cooked more of the ram and vegetables; Cole had found a sealed jar of herbs that were still usable and added some to the stew.

 

Solas spent most of the day asleep. In the times that he was awake he read if his head wasn't also spinning. If he didn't feel like reading he talked to Abelas and Cole while Aurum strolled around the house or slept at his side in the massive bed. His conversations with Aurum were short and sporadic. He could tell that she was still in pain from what she had learned about him. He could also feel a sense of happiness that she was wanting to build bridges and not burn them.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations -  
> Teldirthalelan - One who will not learn.  
> Ena'sal'in'amelan - Knight Enchanter.


	9. Chapter 9.

The day before Cullen and the others arrived started out normally for Abelas, Aurum and Cole until Solas woke up screaming. He wasn't experiencing a nightmare, his blood felt like it was on fire. It was unlike any other pain he'd felt in his long life. Aurum was startled awake as he thrashed around in bed next to her. Abelas and Cole jumped up from their chairs and went over to the bed.

“Solas, Solas can you hear me.” Aurum said as she held his shoulders.

“Is it the poison.” Abelas asked as he held his hips down.

“I don't know. Cole, is he dying?” She asked frantically.

“No, he's just in pain, lots and lots of pain.” He said grimly.

“Why poison him if its doesn't kill him.” Abelas questioned.

“Well, we don't know if it's killing him just yet. It might be taking its time.” She ground out. Aurum didn't know that to do. Healing magic didn't work and potions did little. Easing Solas' pain would be difficult.

 

After a few minutes of thrashing and screaming Solas stopped. He drew in harsh breaths as he tried to calm his breathing. Aurum let go of him and sat up against the headboard. She asked the other two quietly to help Solas sit up between her legs.

“Vhenan.” She said softly as his head rested against her collarbone. “I'm going to try something and I need you to tell me if you feel it.” Solas only managed to nod against her.

“What are you going to do?” Abelas asked.

“I'm going to channel my mana in to his and try and surpass whatever is preventing him replenishing his mana.” She explained. “I will only try, I don't want to push him too hard and hurt him further. Solas, I need you to not fight it when my mana channels with yours.”

“Ok.” He croaked out. She pressed a light kiss to his bare scalp. She concentrated and pushed her mana out of herself like a barrier and wrapped it around Solas. They both flinched slightly as they felt each others mana push against the others.

“Take a deep breath in Solas and let it in.” She instructed. Solas did as she asked and drew a long breath in to his lungs, as he did that he let his mind go blank. Aurum felt a breach in Solas' mana and gently pushed her power together with his. “And breath out vhenan.” She said lightly as she realised that she had not instructed him to exhale and he'd been holding his breath for a while. Solas let out his breath as steadily as he could as he felt Aurum's mana mingle with the small amount stored within him.

“Now, draw on my mana, like unravelling a woollen scarf and use that to replenish your mana. I will hold the effects of the poison at bay to let you gather mana so it is not immediately drained.” She said carefully as she trailed her fingers up and down his arms slowly. “If you feel any pain say so and I will stop you and withdraw.”

“Yes, ma sa'lath.” He imagined that her mana was a long woollen scarf and twined his mana like fingers around the tendrils of her mana and began pulling at it gently. He felt as if he'd pulled too much as he felt a rush of mana join his. He gasped softly as he felt his power grow a tiny amount, for the first time in days he felt his mana humming beneath his skin.

“I can feel something.”

“Good something or bad something?” Aurum asked as she kept the mana channel open and steady. She could feel him gently tugging at her power, but she didn't know what effect it was having on him.

“Good. I can feel my mana again, but it is a minute spark.”

“Good. Keep pulling.” She grinned. She felt the gentle pulling again. Solas took it at the same slow pace as not to overwhelm himself. As his mana grew Aurum shifted the barrier to hold back the poisons effect more.

“I think I have enough to cast a spell.” He said quietly after a few moments of pulling and letting it pool. Aurum pulled her mana back but kept the barrier she'd erected to give him a chance of casting before the poison snuffed it out again.

“Do you need to sit up?” She asked.

“Yes please.” Aurum nodded and placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him slowly upright and held him there. Solas moved his hands to his side and focused on healing the stab wound on his side. He could feel his mana knit his muscle and skin back together slowly, his mana quickly depleted and Aurum's barrier crumpled under the weight of the poison letting it in and suppressing what little mana was left. Solas gasped out in pain and slumped back on to Aurum's hands. She lowered him back to her chest.

“Solas.” She gasped. He fell against her and fell unconscious. “Cole?”

“He's just sleeping.” He said soothingly.

“Where did you learn that?” Abelas asked.

“The fade. A spirit talked to me about it. I think it may have been wisdom.”

“Interesting.”

“Do you think I should try and find him in the fade and ask him about it.”

“Isn't that difficult being in his wolf form.”

“Not really we've come up with a way of communicating.” Cole crawled up the bed and helped Aurum stuff more pillows behind her as she held on to Solas. Abelas had to cast a sleep spell on Aurum as she'd only just woken up and it would be difficult to find her way back in to the fade.

 

When she reached the fade she found herself in a strange place. She was in a strange forest. As she walked along the path through the massive trees. Aurum passed through a long tunnel and emerged in a beautiful grove filled with trees and flowers. In the centre of the grove stood a massive eluvian, larger than any she'd seen, beside it were two statues of equal massiveness. A howling wolf stood on one side and a dragon with its wings hugged around itself stood on the other. As she approached she saw Fen'harel, he was stood in front of the mirror with a women beside him. It didn't take Aurum long to recognise the shock of white hair and beautiful crimson armour. It was Mythal.

“Ahh, there she is.” Mythal purred. “Come child this is no deception. We are all really here.” She reassured. Aurum smiled in return and approached the wolf.

“Are you alright?” She asked. Fen'harel bowed his head, as she neared she reached out and ran her fingers through his thick fur on his neck. “Do you know how to cure him?” She asked Mythal.

“He needs his powers back. Not just the meagre mana he's been playing with since he woke up. He needs his full powers to beat this.”

“How will he get those back. His orb was destroyed.”

“He'll get them from me.” She declared.

“What will that do to you.” She asked nervously as she moved away from Fen'harel and towards Mythal.

“I will die, or, at least, this body will die. I will always live on as you may have figured out from Morrigan's reaction to seeing me alive again.”

“Where can we find you?”

“The sentinel Abelas knows the way, but it will be a long journey.”

“We should wake and begin our journey.”

“Oh hush. You need yo wait for your companions to arrive. There are many dangers between you and here.”

“More sentinels.”

“Yes.”

“Why are you people trying to kill Solas?”

“I do not know. Perhaps they believe they have awoken in a cursed world and wish to enact their anguish on the person who caused it all.”

“Is there anything that I can do to help Solas until we reach you?”

“Channel your mana in to him every other day and he should make it.”

“I shall.”

“I taught you well I see.” She smiled.

“You?”

“Why yes. I taught you that little trick. You're a quick learner.”

“Thank you Mythal. You didn't need to hide behind a mask, though.”

“Oh, but I wanted to see how well he'd been teaching you with dealing with spirits.” She said gesturing to the wolf behind them.

“He taught me well.” Aurum turned to see Fen'harel sitting and watching them with curious eyes.

“You will need to watch over him. Despite his misgivings, he is a good man, and he loves you dearly. Do not give up on him just yet.”

“I will. I certainly won't be letting him out of my sight.” She smiled wryly.

“Take some time and relax here. Your companions will wake you soon enough.” Before Aurum had the chance to reply Mythal disappeared in to a cloud of smoke.

“Well, I suppose we should do as the lady bids.” As she looked around more she noticed that the trees were strangely shaped, their branches curled in on themselves in an elegant sphere. She had seen these trees in her small jaunt through the crossroads. “Is this the crossroads?” She asked. Fen'harel bowed his head, he steered her through the trees and showed her more of the memory here. Everything was empty and peaceful.

 

Hours later when they were still sleeping, Cole went to Andruil's wall to check to see if Cullen and the others had arrived. To the young man's surprise, they were waiting for him under one of the stone arches.

“Cole, where's the boss?” Bull asked.

“In the fade with Solas. She tried healing him and he passed out. She followed him to make sure he was ok.”

“We're going to need to wake her up. We've got some troubling news.” Cullen said as he rubbed the back of his neck, as he did whenever he was giving bad news or hearing it.

“This way. We should be able to get back without coming across sentinels.”

“Have they been giving you much trouble kid?” Bull asked as he pulled Cole up on to his horse so that he could show them the way.

“No, they haven't tried looking for us. They keep to their camps across the graves.”

 

Once Cole and the others had returned and taken the saddle bags from the horses, Aurum and Solas were awake. They were sat in the chairs around the fire, eating the rest of the ram that Abelas had cooked them.

“They arrived early.” Cole announced as he came through the door.

“Yeah, we rode through the night so we would get here earlier.” Bull said with a giant yawn.

“What caused you to ride through the night.”

“Yesterday morning we received some troubling news from Madame Vivienne.”

“How troubling Commander?” Solas asked quietly from his chair.

“Ah, Solas. She reverse engineered the poison and found that it's made in part from your blood. She seems to think that it was made only to harm you.” Cullen explained as Aurum rose from her seat to fetch chairs from the other room for the others to sit on; they had just finished using the chairs in the bedroom for fire wood. Dorian left the conversation to help her.

“How are you, my dear?” He asked as they walked between the rooms.

“I'm exhausted. I'm afraid of Solas dying. I don't want to fail him.” She said bluntly.

“Oh, my sweet girl you won't fail. Solas is far too stubborn and stuck up to die.” He said soothingly as he put his chair down and hugged her after putting her chairs down.

“Thank you, Dorian.” She sighed.

When they rejoined the group Cullen was explaining Vivienne's findings to Solas. After all the chairs were placed Aurum pulled Bull away from the conversation and took him to the servants quarters.

“So what do you need, Boss?”

“I want to bring the mattress' from down here to the room so we can all sleep in the main bedroom. It's safer.”

“Makes sense.” He huffed. The mattress' weren't very heavy so they managed them in one go.

“I figured we'd move Abelas over to the other side of the bed with Cullen by the fire so you and Dorian can have the other side.”

 

With everything rearranged on the now cramped upper level of the bedroom, Aurum plonked herself down in her chair and listened to Solas and Cullen talk.

“Aurum and I may have found a way to cure me.” Solas announced.

“Oh. Well, it's a good thing that we bought all these books with us then.” Dorian interjected.

“We may still need knowledge. It's not a certain cure and we may need other ways to sustain him until we get to where we need to go. My little trick only does so much and it exhausts Solas.”

“Little trick?” Dorian asked, looking intrigued.

“I learned something from a spirit, in the same way, Solas had learned things. I used my mana to push the effects of the poison back from Solas' mana pool and let him take from my power to replenish a small amount and heal himself.”

“Fascinating.”

“Do you know how long it will sustain him for?” The Commander asked.

“Not long. Once the effects of the poison are back within his mana pool he's exhausted. I can do it every other day to help him heal, but I will need my mana for if a fight occurs.”

“What have you done since you sent your letter.”

“I've stitched Solas up. We've read almost every book in this house on poisons and alchemy. Solas has spent most of the time asleep.”

“Have you at least been able to talk to your spirits and find something useful.” Dorian asked Solas.

“No. To protect myself I changed my form as soon as I entered the fade. I find it is much better as a defenceless mage in the fade to adopt a form that can do more damage. So it is hard to talk to anything in the shape of a wolf.” He said as he tried to smile. Aurum was secretly glad that he didn't lie to them, and that he didn't tell them the truth either.

 

After a few minutes of idle chatting Dorian and Bull presented them with a mountain of books and some food. Cullen explained that they didn't know what their food situation would have been like so they brought along supplies from Emprise as well as a few things pilfered from Skyhold's kitchen. Aurum smiled with glee when Dorian unwrapped some of her favourite Hinterlands Ram and Ale pie.

“You know the way to a women's heart Dorian.” She laughed. She re-wrapped them to save them for later as she, Abelas and Solas had just eaten. “Have you eaten?” She asked.

“Just something small at breakfast.” Cullen said.

“Well we should cook something, you can eat and we'll eat the rest later.” Solas replied. Cullen gave Abelas and Aurum the rest of the food and helped them cook a stew.

“So what is this cure of you've found.” Dorian asked as he pulled the books from the saddle bags.

“We're going to summon Mythal. She told me in the fade that she could cure him. Before you ask if I'm sure it was her I am sure. I still have a little of the Vir'abelasan inside of me and it knew. She didn't say how exactly she was going to cure him. She was vague and mysterious. I think they like it like that.” She smirked. Solas laughed too before coughing a little as it hurt his lungs.

 

They all sat together as Cullen, Dorian and Bull enjoyed a proper meal. As they ate they got to know Abelas a little more. Abelas told them about what life was like in ancient times. The group talked amongst themselves and shared stories of the new world and themselves with Abelas. Solas drew abstract patterns over Aurum's palm that rested on his arm of the chair as they quietly listened.

“You're being awfully quiet boss.”

“I've already shared stories with Abelas, I have nothing good left to tell.” She said calmly. She curled further in to the chair. She gestured to Dorian to pass her a book from the stack he'd made by his chair. Aurum read for a while until she felt Solas heat up, his fingers burned up against her forearm and she felt a wave of heat come off him as she was so close to him.

“Are you feeling alright?” She whispered. Solas pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. She moved her hand and cast a minor frost spell on the fabric of the chair. As the cold seeped in to him he sighed happily.

“Ma serannas.” Solas curled his fingers around Aurum's and sat back further in to the chair, enjoying the coolness of the spell.

“If you three wish to sleep you can. It must have been tiring to ride for so long.” She said as she noticed Dorian and Bull starting to look about ready to fall asleep in their chairs.

“It was. I'm glad to be off a horse.” Cullen smiled.

 


	10. Chapter 10.

Less than an hour later Solas was asleep again. Abelas and Cullen helped him back in to the bed as Bull and Dorian cleared up the chairs to make space for their sleeping arrangements. Aurum and Cole moved the couch over to the fire side of the room while the two mattress' were moved to accommodate Bull and Dorian. When everything was settled, Aurum helped the commander out of his armour as Dorian helped bull out of his. As the three men were settling down to sleep Abelas and Cole moved the new stacks of books to the small table on the lower level with Aurum where they began the hard work of reading through them for answers. She made a copy of Vivienne's letter for Abelas to have while he looked through the books.

“ _Commander,_

_I have discovered the ingredients of this poison and it troubles me. It appears to be three different potions combined in to one. They didn't use any conventional herbs so it was harder to de-construct but I managed it. One part of the poison seemed to work against the healing process, I imagine our Inquisitor has had her work cut out there. They used small inconsequential plants like Bloodroot and Chantry Cowl as a means of focusing on healing mixed with Contrary Vine to reverse the effects and stop it, not start it._

_The second worked against the suppression of magic and mana replenishment. They used Spirits Bane, the Humours of Air (which are tricky to capture), both help enhance magical ability and also give resistance to magic, it appears that the Contrary Vine only affected the enhancing of magic's, I believe that it acts to dampen down mana and resist outside forces of magic in conjuncture with the healing part of the poison._

_The third is most interesting, they used a very weak form of Monkshood and The Humours of Fire (again hard to capture) to act as the poison in our poison, this was somehow bound with Solas' blood so it would only work on him._

_These three separate parts were bound with magic to mix together but work as their separate parts._

_As of yet we are unable to locate a cure for such a monstrosity. We will, however, keep working and I will send you an update for when you reach the Inquisitors location._

_Give her my love won't you._

_Madame de Fer.”_

The plants and herbs noted were not used in most alchemical potions, they were used for simple forms of homoeopathy, but even then they didn't really have much effect on anything.

 

Cullen was the first to wake even after only having less than six hours sleep. Being an ex-Templar and dealing with lyrium withdrawal messed up his sleep. Being on campaign had also made it difficult for him to sleep.

“Aurum, would you like to take a short walk with me? I think you could use a break from reading.” He said as he approached her seat.

“Yes. I fear my brain is trickling from my ears.” She giggled softly.

“Take your staff.” Abelas reminded her without looking up from his book. They had gotten in to the habit of carrying their weapons around the house in case of intruders.

“Why do you need your staff?”

“Just in case of a nasty surprise.” She said lowly as she fetched her staff from the side of the bed. She also grabbed Cullen's sword from the scabbard hanging over his chair. They walked through the library and through the dark halls of the lower level.

“I probably know the answer to this bit I should probably ask how you are.”

“I'm tired. I'm afraid that Solas won't make it, no matter what I do. If they can make a poison that targets only one person, what else are they capable of.”

“We're not sure if they made the poison, they could have sourced it from somewhere else.”

“That doesn't make it any better.” She whined pathetically. Cullen smiled as she opened up more to him. It seemed like very few people saw that real women behind the Inquisitors calm and sarcastic façade. He felt honoured to see the true Aurum Levellan.

“We will come with you when you summon Mythal. Do you know how many sentinels there are exactly.”

“We are not certain of the numbers. We found a camp site at the temple near by with a map that located several possible other camp sites where there could be more sentinels. When we leave the graves we will pass through where they are camping and searching for Solas. I believe they are still out there as I think we killed all those who attacked us.”

“Where will we be going exactly.”

“Abelas told us that what we experienced in the fade was a memory of the crossroads. The pathways between Eluvians. There is an Eluvian that Abelas can unlock in another temple in the Arbor Wilds. We'll find Mythal in the crossroads at one of her other Eluvians.”

“Ah. So a simple trip then.” He smirked. “Why wouldn't we be able to use the one in Skyhold.”

“Because that would involve Morrigan. I don't trust her and I don't think she'd be too keen on seeing her mother again anytime soon.”

“Ah fair enough.” Aurum took Cullen through the ballroom to show him the impressive decoration that hung above. “It is fake I take it?”

“Yes. Much to Bull's disappointment.”

“I'm sure you made up for it by finding another dragon?”

“Yes. We fought one here in the Graves. Damn thing nearly sent me over the cliffs edge.”

“Well I'm glad you didn't Josephine would have had my head.”

“Thankfully there was a statue of Fen'harel, that stopped my short flight pretty quickly.”

“I've noticed that there are quite a few more than usual here. This is a very interesting place.”

“It is. I've loved the peacefulness of it.” They continued their walk through the empty house until they walked up through the atrium and towards the bedrooms.

 

Cullen joined Aurum and the others in reading through the heaps of books until Dorian and Bull woke up. When they awoke they gathered around the table where Cullen had pulled out a map of Thedas for them to plan their journey.

“For this, we'll be leaving the Graves through Stone wolf green, west of here. We'll probably meet some sentinels on the way. I plan on passing through the canyon to pick up supplies.”

“When we leave the Graves we will venture west then south in to the Wilds. It will take us more than a week possibly two to get to the Temple. From there it shouldn't take too long to travel through the crossroads to where we are to find Mythal.” Abelas explained.

“Will we be expecting the same warm welcome we received at your temple.” Bull asked dryly.

“No, this temple was abandoned centuries ago. But we may still be faced with the threat of the sentinels who want to kill Solas.”

“Yes, why do they want to kill him anyway?”

“We don't know. I know heard a rumour that they sought to hunt him down, that is why I came to find the Inquisitor. We have been unable to question them as we have killed them.”

“Perhaps we should try and capture one, I'll make 'em talk.” Bull smirked. Abelas quirked one of his pale eyebrows at him as if he didn't quite believe them.

“It might be worth a shot, but they could be delusional after being in and out of Uthenara so many times and the possibility of being corrupted by Corypheus and the Red Templars.” Aurum said in the hope that they'd believe her. If they did catch one and they started talking about Fen'harel Aurum would claim that it was delusion.

“When will we be leaving?” Dorian asked.

“Before first light tomorrow, that will give us enough time to prepare. It will hopefully give us enough time to stop in the camp across the river for me to change Keliel's saddle for the higher backed saddle for Solas, so he can ride more comfortably with me.”

“What about potions?” Dorian questioned, he had managed to sneak a few from Dagna, but it wasn't a lot; especially for the number of people that were travelling and the length of the journey.

“We will take as many as we can. I think we should stick to healing, regeneration, lyrium and a few poison vials.”

“How do we plan on keeping Solas safe if he's unable to defend himself.” The commander asked politely.

“He will stay with me, Cole and Abelas. You, Dorian and Bull will provide extra support. If we are to get in to fight you will bear the brunt of it.” She stepped away from the table to rummage through Solas' tattered robes over the desk chair. “Ah, good he still has it.” She said as she pulled out The Ring of Doubt out of one of the hidden pockets. “He should be able to use it and protect himself a little.”

“I can also help him stay hidden.” Cole added, he had learned the ability to enshroud others in shadow as well as himself.

“Thank you, Cole, that will be helpful. If I channel my mana with Solas' I will do it when we're in the safety of a camp as it exhausts us both.”

“You won't be doing it every day surely?” Dorian interjected.

“No. Once every couple of days should be enough I hope.”

 

Later that night when everyone except Cole was asleep Aurum snuck out of the room to the library. She curled up on one of the couches in the long shirt she had been wearing at night and stared out in to the darkness. She was startled when she heard soft footsteps approach.

“It is just me.” Abelas said softly as she reached for her staff.

“You should be sleeping.” She said as she sat up properly.

“I can say the same for you.” He commented as he perched next to her.

“I couldn't sleep.”

“What is keeping you awake?”

“I don't know how I feel about Solas.”

“What has you conflicted.” He asked he knew, but he wanted her to say it out loud.

“I'm torn between love and hate. Over the past few days I have gone from ignoring him and barely talking to him to caring for him and calling him Vhenan and acting like he never told me that he wanted to save our race by killing the world.” She sighed frustratedly.

“I have watched you as you care for Solas, I know that you accept that part of him that is Fen'harel but you cling to the small part of you that is broken in your heart and what your elders have taught you about him that cling to the fear that he will trick you somehow and he will abandon you and that him changing his mind was a lie.”

“You're very perceptive.” She said lowly as she picked at a loose thread on her shirt.

“I have seen it in both of you. I have also had long conversations with Cole and Solas.”They sat in comfortable silence for several minutes before Abelas let out a loud, undignified yawn.

“It looks like someone is ready to sleep.” She giggled, she hadn't heard such a loud and ungraceful noise to come from the ancient elf; who was normally quiet and dignified.

“Yes. The strange seat is not the most comfortable object I have slept on.”

“They are a little on the solid side. You should have said something, I would have dragged a mattress up here.”

“It is fine, I do not require much sleep anyway.”

“Well for the next few hours you can sleep in bed with Solas and me.”

“I will be fine.” He protested.

“Please? If I curl up next to Solas you'll have most of the bed anyway. It will be no different to sharing an aravel with my family or friends.” She reassured. Abelas could feel the pull of sleep upon him and he didn't wish to argue more, since they had to be awake in a few hours he couldn't find himself objecting to a little sleep.

“Very well.” He nodded. He stood and gestured for Aurum to go first. Cole was sat on the steps in the room as he stood watch, Aurum smiled down at him and ruffled his hair as she passed him. She climbed in first and cuddled up to Solas, she didn't lie too close as she was afraid of accidentally hurting him. Behind her she felt the bed dip as Abelas got in. She looked behind her to see him lying on his back with his hands over his stomach.

“Sleep well.” She said softly as she turned back. For a few heartbeats, she watched Solas' face in the moonlight before sleep claimed her too and she slipped in to the fade. 


	11. Chapter 11.

It was still dark outside hours later when Cole woke Aurum by running a rough finger along the sensitive arch of her foot. She jerked her foot back under the blanket and giggled quietly. She slowly sat up and gently shook Abelas to wake him. As he rose she shuffled to the end of the bed to get up. She nudged Dorian and Bull awake as Abelas re-lit the fire and made tea and breakfast with Cole. Dorian grumbled about the early hour and Bull simply turned over and started snoring. Aurum kicked him in the shin, resulting in her swearing under her breath as it felt like she kicked a rock and Bull just chuckling before he got up. As they gathered around the fire to drink tea Aurum quickly stripped off the shirt she was wearing and threw on her trousers and undershirt. Dorian passed her a mug of tea as she passed to the lower level to fetch Solas' and her own armour before going back to the bed.

“Solas.” She touched his shoulder to gently wake him. His eyes opened slowly as she felt his forehead and neck, which were still hot with fever. “I need to bathe you again to get the temperature down.” Aurum used the remaining clean water to wash and soothe Solas' heated skin. She only paused from her task to drink some tea or eat a spoonful of reheated stew or offer some to Solas.

 

Once everyone had eaten they moved to dress in their armour or robes. Aurum dressed quickly in her Battlemage armour with practised ease, she paused when grabbing her small breast plate.

“Remind me when we pass through the canyon to replace this, with a blank motif.” She said quietly to Solas as she strapped it on under her long coat. She left her plate greaves and gauntlets for last as she helped Solas get dressed in his Battlemage mail. She helped him with his foot wraps as it hurt to bend for too long. Solas helped her as she fastened the wolf pelt in place with its leather ties and belt.

“Is that comfortable?” She asked as she was ready to adjust it.

“Yes, ma lath. I do not think I can wear the pendant as it will most likely cause discomfort against my chest.” She nodded in agreement and wrapped it in her scarf and stowed it in his pouch on his belt. As she wrapped his jaw bone necklace Solas slipped on his Ring of Doubt and felt it's power hum quietly through his weakened connection to his mana.

“Do you think it will work?” She asked as she brought her foot up onto the bed to put on one of her greaves.

“I do not know. Cole will assist us if it fails at protecting me.”

“Do you think your life ward will do anything to help?”

“It did nothing when I was struck down the first time.” He said dryly. “I doubt it will be of any help at this time.”

 

Solas held Aurum's gauntlets in place as she buckled them. He gave her a questioning look as she paused mid buckle, she froze in the same way when she was trying to focus on something far away. He stilled too and listened, he could faintly hear the sound of metal breaking outside. Aurum shushed everyone and the group stilled as she tilted her head towards the door. Everyone stilled and listened, they all flinched slightly when they heard the sound of wood breaking.

“Sentinels.” Cole said quickly.

“How did they find us.”

“I don't know. Right now it doesn't matter.”

“It will be better to stay in here or in the hallway as they will come from both sides.” Abelas suggested.

“Ok. Bull and Cullen clear the lower level as much as you can, if you need to push out in to the hall during the fight do so but cause as much damage on the way through. Dorian and Abelas will support you from up here and Cole will stick with me and Solas to protect him. Dorian, cast runes just inside the door, Abelas just before the stairs and I will focus on around myself and Solas.” Aurum was thankful that the people who built this place had such extravagant taste and created such large living spaces.

 

They all listened for approaching footsteps. They knew that if they came up through the library they would quickly have a fight on their hands. If the invading group had split in to two groups it would take one significantly longer to get to the upper levels and the bedroom.

 

Bull and Cullen took up defensive positions by the door, they stood on either side to draw in the sentinels. If there were too many to fight Bull could simply block the doorway with his hulking figure; it would take a monumental effort to move him. Dorian and Abelas took their places at the top of the stairs where they could best offer magical support and Aurum and Cole positioned themselves near the fire; protecting Solas who pressed himself between the wall and the statue next to the fire; he would only active the Ring of Doubt if he needed to.

 

They all heard the sounds of people in the library coming towards them, as Dorian heard them pass through the door at the end of the hall he cast a series of Ice Mines in front of the door. The fight erupted quickly once the first sentinel stepped through the door and promptly froze and then shattered in to a thousand pieces by Bull's hammer. Two more barged past and were met with Cullen's large shield and the bombardment of the mages magic. Aurum cast a barrier around herself, Cole and Solas as one of the sentinel mages started targeting her. Aurum only cast her static cages to keep the sentinels trapped in one space while the others took them out. It didn't take them anytime at all the defeat the first group, Aurum had enough time to give Dorian and Abelas lyrium potions to give them a quick boost before the door at the other end of the hall crashed open.

 

They went through the same cycle again, Dorian froze them at the doorway and Bull crushed them in to pieces. As a Necromancer Dorian raised the few sentinels that weren't in pieces to help in the fight as the second group was larger than the first. One shadow slipped past the warriors and vaulted over the balcony nearest Aurum. It hadn't even bothered with stealth and attacked the group at the fire.

 

She paralysed it with lightning before setting it ablaze as Cole buried both of his daggers in to the shadows abdomen. As Cole twisted out of the way to stab the shadow from behind Aurum struck at it with the blade of her staff several times. Moments later the fight was over and they were faced with a mound of bodies.

“We should burn the bodies.” Abelas said as he lowered his barrier.

“We'll take them to the balcony and do it there.” Aurum agreed. As the others began to gather the bodies Aurum turned her attention to Solas. He looked like he was having trouble keeping himself upright as he leant heavily against the wall and his staff. She stepped over to him and wrapped her arm around his waist and his arm around her shoulder to help him stay upright.

“Thank you, ma lath.” He sighed. He did not like feeling so weak. As much as he enjoyed the proximity of his love, he wished it were under different circumstances. They slowly caught up with the others in the library, who were still piling the bodies up on the balcony. She took the opportunity to let Solas rest on one of the chairs before she ran back to the room to fetch a few things.

 

While Abelas set to work with setting the bodies alight the others gathered the saddlebags. Aurum suggested that they leave the books for the inquisition to collect as they would no longer need them. Dorian slipped a few in to his saddle bag for the long journey.

 

Bull carried Solas down the library's long staircase as he found it too jarring to walk down with Aurum's aid. Outside Aurum and Cole brought the small herd of mounts and saddled them up. Aurum stroked the long nose of her mount and asked her quietly to kneel for Solas. Keliel listened and lay down to allow Solas to mount her in an easier fashion. Solas was able to get on the hart almost completely on his own.

“Vhenan, leave my staff here, it will only hinder our travels and I will not need it once I am recovered.” Solas said quietly. Aurum looked between her staff and Solas', hers was heavy and had a bulky stone like pommel on top, whereas Solas' was shorter and smoother, the skull on top was large and the blade was long but it would not hinder Keliel when it was strapped to her.

“We'll take yours and leave mine, it will be kinder for Keliel.” She said as she untied a few charms from her staff and stuffed them in her pouch before tying Solas' staff to her mount and leaving hers behind. It felt a little odd to be seated in front of Solas when she got in to the saddle. If they rode together she would usually sit behind him. With his arms securely around her waist, Aurum clicked her tongue for Keliel to stand.

 

Once mounted the group set off across the river to the nearest Inquisition camp. As much as she didn't want to seek the Inquisition for anything else she did need her larger saddle to hold Solas. The stop was quick, as Aurum had her other saddle put on the others gathered as many potions as they could carry.

 

It was a longer ride than Aurum remembered to the canyon, she usually galloped through the trees at a breakneck speed, but with Solas with her, she had to stay at a steady pace. It was thankfully an uneventful ride as they didn't meet anything that wasn't a Nug or an August Ram.

 

They picked up food supplies, three tents and bandages as Aurum found the blacksmith and traded her breastplate for a different one. She was thankful that he had one made from Obsidian as it would still offer the same amount of protection as her old one. When Cullen gave her a questioning look, she told him that it needed replacing and it would take too long for her to get a custom one made up.

 

As they were packing everything up Aurum and Abelas plotted their path out of the Graves, their original plan was to head west from the Graves through Stonewolf Green, there was a larger concentration of sentinels in that area. They both decided that it would be quicker and safer to leave through Andruil's wall and head west and south from there. Aurum quietly informed the others of their plans and they left through the main entrance of the canyon and headed up and out towards the wall.

 

Once out of the canyon they formed up in to a defensive riding position with Solas and Aurum in the middle.

 


	12. Chapter 12.

Their first day out of the graves passed by without indecent. They stopped the water the horses and to find a viable location to spend the night in without too much danger of getting attacked.

 

As it was nearing darkness they found an empty cave through what looked like the ruined remains of a village for the night. As they had cover from the elements they didn't need up the tents. They unpacked their bedrolls and the blankets and furs that Aurum acquired from the chateau before they left.

 

While the others were setting up a fire and their sleeping arrangements, Aurum went over to where Solas was sat up against several of the pillar-like rocks.

“How are you feeling?” She asked it had been a long ride, she ached and was glad to be out of her armour.

“A little sore. The ride was hard.” He said, his legs ached almost as much as his wounds did.

“This might help.” She said, holding up a bottle of scented oil. She placed it on a rock next to him as she knelt at his feet. Aurum took great care in rolling up the legs of his loose trousers up to his mid thigh and unravelling his foot wraps. She quickly cleans his feet and legs before pouring some elfroot and sandalwood-scented oil in to her warm palms. She placed his foot in her lap and began working out the aches. Solas sighed contentedly as Aurum's delicate hands worked out the aches along his shin and knee. He felt much more relaxed as she finished the other leg, he felt as if he could easily fall asleep where he was.

 

Noting his sleepy expression Aurum rolled his trouser legs back down before standing. Cole had thankfully laid out a set of furs and blankets near the fire for them both. Aurum helped him walk across the mossy ground so he could eat something before drifting off. Solas leaned against Aurum's chest as he slowly ate his supper, Aurum managed to eat hers with a little difficulty when Solas reminded her that she hadn't eaten yet.

 

Dorian made a sarcastic comment about not getting a foot rub from Aurum.

“If you wanted a foot rub, Dorian, you only had to ask. Just come here and let me stab you first.” She said wryly with a wicked look in her dark eyes. Bull burst out laughing.

“Ooh, aren't we a spiky one tonight.” Dorian chuckled. “Don't worry Abelas. Aurum would never intentionally hurt us.” He commented when he saw the sentinels alarmed expression. “She definitely earns the title of little wolf. She can be vicious with her words, as well as in battle.”

“I have seen. Aurum is very adept in many styles of fighting.” Abelas commented. The conversation turned back to other people. Solas stayed awake long enough to share a few stories from his travels in the fade.

 

It wasn't long before Aurum felt Solas begin to slump against her as he started to fall asleep.

“Would you like to lie down?” She asked lowly.

“Yes.” She gestured to Cole to help her hold up Solas while she moved back to help him move to lie down. Aurum lay down, pulling the blanket over the both of them as they settled back against the furs. Underneath the blanket Solas sought out Aurum's hand, he linked his fingers with her nearest two fingers. Aurum moved her hands underneath his and linked his fingers with hers as she drifted off to sleep.

 

Fen'harel was waiting for her when she appeared in the fade. As she approached him she took in her surroundings. They were in an old elven settlement, there were several small stone and wattle and daub houses dotted around, instead of aravels and tents. She was seeing a memory of when the Elves had a more permanent place in the world. They walked around the sprawling hamlet for a little while until Aurum saw something she thought she recognised. Outside one of the houses was a male elf sat fletching arrows. As she moved closer she could see that he was tall and lean with shaggy brown hair that fell about his shoulders. She inspected his face closer and studied his defined features, he had high cheekbones and a faint splash of freckles across his nose and under his eyes. Aurum gasped quietly when saw who it was when she recognised the dimple in his chin, she whirled around to see the wolf stood further away near another house.

“Is that you?” She asked the wolf when he bowed his head she couldn't stop a grin from splitting her face.

“You look so different, you had hair.” The wolf narrowed his eyes and huffed at her. Fen'harel took her sleeve between his powerful jaws and gently tugged at her arm. “What? It's nice to see what you used to look like.” She turned her back on the memory of Solas and faced her wolf. Fen'harel looked down at her with pleading eyes. She sank her hands in to his fur and leaned in to his side.

“Shall we go somewhere else?” She asked. Fen'harel lead her through the village and up the hill that was above the cave they were currently sleeping in. The view from the to was beautiful, she knew that it was only a dream, but she wanted to spend the rest of the night up there with Fen'harel with the rest of the night.

“This is a wonderful place ma'fen. Do you think our da'fenlin will grow up in a place like this?” She asked. Fen'harel gave a low grumble as he nuzzled his large head against her. Aurum ran her fingers along his silky forehead to his large ears, she smiled when they twitched and flicked to her touch.

“Thank you for letting me see this memory, I know that your past is something you've not shared with many people.” Solas had given over bits of information to Aurum and the inquisition when he was asked, but he was a little vague at times. Aurum was one of very few people who he had shared real stories about himself with.

 

They spent the rest of the night exploring the area around the village, Aurum would get glimpses of Solas' memory of himself as it moved around.

 

The next morning Aurum woke up curled on her side with something warm against her back. As she opened her eyes she saw an awake Solas beside her just staring up at the cave ceiling. She picked up the hand that was curled around her waist and identified it as Cole's. Cole shifted in his sleep and curled around Aurum more.

“Good morning.” Solas said quietly.

“Good morning. Do you know why I have a limpet?” She asked as she adjusted her head on Cole's other arm.

“Dorian mentioned that you were apparently cold last night so Cole settled down beside you and has fallen asleep.” He said. Aurum shifted onto her back and examined the sleeping spirit. She reached up to brush his sandy hair from his face.

“Good morning Cole.” She said softly as she gently stroked his arm, he smiled as his eyes fluttered open.

“Good morning. You were shivering last night.” He said as he slid his arm out from under Aurum to sit up. “Abelas, Cullen and I had to kill more sentinels last night.” He confessed.

“What?” She gasped. As she sat up she saw that Cullen and Abelas were asleep. Dorian and Bull were sat opposite them, they were warming up the pies that Dorian had pilfered from Skyhold for breakfast. “Why didn't you wake me?”

“You were happy where you were. I made sure you were safe out here.”

“Don't feel too left out, we weren't even told about it until we were woken up for a watch.” Dorian noted.

“Thank you, Cole. Do you mind coming with me outside so I can... get ready before breakfast.” She asked Cole.

“Of course.” Aurum had to not rush from the cave as she struggled to keep nausea at bay.

 

In the dim daylight, Aurum looked out over the ruined village after she'd finished throwing up.

“I dreamt about being here last night.” She said things were drastically different as only small remnants of the stone houses remained between the now massive trees.

“I saw, just before I had to wake up to fight. I saw how happy you both were.” Cole said as he stared out in to the mist.

“It was nice to see what life was like back then.” Aurum turned to go back to the cave, it was cold and she wanted to eat something. “Just don't tell anyone about it ok.” She asked she wasn't sure if Cole had recognised the memory of Solas.

“I won't.”

“Thank you.” She smiled. When they returned to the cave Solas was sat up against one of Bull's legs as he tucked in to one of the pies. Bull handed her, her pie and tea and told her to sit. Aurum hummed happily as she bit in to her Ram and Ale pie.

 

Aurum and the others waited another hour before waking Abelas and Cullen. While they enjoyed their breakfast everyone else got dressed and fed their mounts.

 

Aurum knew that from this point they would be travelling south in to the uncharted wilds. There would be no Inquisition camps or merchants to stock up on supplies or send correspondences to Skyhold.

“How many were there Cullen?” Aurum asked as she helped him in to his breastplate.

“Only five this time. They must have followed us from the graves. We dispatched of them quickly, you and the others were safe. There was no need to wake you. I do apologise though for causing you any distress.”

“It's ok. You could have gotten me up for a watch.”

“We have more than enough people to cover the night. Also bearing in mind that everyone except Dorian manages to function on very little sleep.” Cullen had to sit on a nearby rock to allow Aurum to help him with his cloak.

“You're not going to want this when we get in to the jungle. You do remember the Arbor Wilds right?” She teased.

“Yes. It was very unpleasant. When it gets warmer I'll be sure to remove it.”

“Good, we do not want a repeat of Blackwall in the Forbidden Oasis.” She said smiling. The warden had worn his winter gambeson underneath his armour by mistake. He had to wait a week while some poor scout had to bring him something more appropriate from the keep in the Western Approach. Aurum had forced him to take off his armour if they weren't exploring or fighting as she thought he might faint and be cooked in his armour.

“I won't don't worry. It's not exactly cool inside Templar armour on a hot Kirkwall day.” He said dryly.

 

The mist had cleared and the sun was starting to feel warmer as they set off through the forest. Abelas rode in front of everyone else as he lead them through the trees and hills of where the Graves turned in to the Arbor Wilds.

 


	13. Chapter 13.

It took five days for Aurum to master to the art of sleeping in her saddle without slumping back and hurting Solas. Solas would use his wolf pelt as a layer of padding between his chest wound and the slender back of his love. He would wrap an arm tightly around her waist as he held the reins with the other hand.

 

Three days in their ride Solas tasked Cole with assembling a small gift for Aurum as he did not have the strength to do so. As he waited he coaxed Keliel to sit for him and climb in to the saddle himself. Cole handed him the gift as Aurum approached from the other side of Keliel.

“I have something for you.” He said, hiding his other hand behind the Hart.

“Oh?” Solas pulled his hand up to reveal a small bunch of wildflowers that bloomed around them. “Solas, they're so beautiful.” She smiled as she brought them closer to admire their floral scent. When she pulled them back she noticed that they were tied together with a thin piece of vine and a small bead made from Volcanic Aurum. Solas liked the way the golden brown gemstone glinted in the sunlight

“Cole had a few gems in his pouch and hinted that you would like that one the most because I think it matches your eyes.” He said blushing, Aurum adored they way Solas blushed all the way to the tips of his ears.

“He's such a sweet boy. He's quite the matchmaker,” She leant up onto her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck. “Thank you, Solas.”

“Just a small token of my gratitude.” He said as she slid back down. Aurum slid the flowers in to her saddle bag before mounting Keliel and setting off with the rest of the group.

 

That night Aurum channelled her mana with Solas. He managed to heal the wound in his side to a point that it no longer needed stitches or a bandage. Even with his wounds healing the poison was still making him sick and weak.

 

Two days later they settled in another cave system for the night. The cave was larger and had more chambers to it. The main chamber was large with a high ceiling covered in Veridium and Deep Mushrooms. Deeper within the cave there was a large chamber dotted with several hot springs.

 

Cole and Abelas hunted for their dinner as everyone else set up camp within the cave. They returned with a few large fish from a nearby river. Cole and Abelas gutted and skewered each fish onto a sharp stick and handed one to everyone so that could cook them around the fire by themselves. Aurum and Solas sat back to back as they picked apart the flaky skin of their fish.

 

After their meal, they all took their leisurely time in bathing in the hot springs.

“Shall we take our turn?” Aurum asked.

“Do you think that will be wise?” Solas asked.

“Well there's a ledge around one of the pools that you can sit on, the water would only reach just above your hips.”

“It's not that Vhenan.”

“Oh. What are you worried about?”

“It would be rude of me to see you undressed like that. Given our circumstance.” He confessed. Aurum turned around and knelt behind Solas, she gently wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rested her chin against his shoulder.

“But you've seen me naked,” She smiled, she smiled quickly dropped when he tensed up and looked away from her. “I think that Abelas is still bathing. I'll ask him to help you. I'll just bathe in one of the different pools.” She offered and Solas nodded in return. He managed to prop himself up as she stood behind him to collect a few of her things before returning to him and helping him to the other chamber.

 

They caught Abelas just as he was exiting one of the springs.

“Abelas, you wouldn't mind doing Solas a small favour, please?” Aurum asked as she stared at her feet.

“What is the favour?” He asked carefully.

“I only require minor assistance in bathing. Aurum offered but I feel that it would be rude of me to see her undressed as we are no longer together.” Solas explained.

“I thought the Dalish weren't embarrassed when it came to seeing others naked.”

“We're not. I'm just not looking out of respect.” She shot back as she looked up at him. She noticed the meandering lines of his Vallaslin and took a moment to admire them, they wound up his strong arms and across his lean chest.

“Your Vallaslin is...extensive.”

“It is the way of all sentinels. Do your people not do it in such a way.”

“No, not generally. Some members of my clan have extensive Vallaslin but I never did.” Aurum wandered over to a different spring and turned her back while Solas undressed and climbed into the spring behind her. She peered over her shoulder to see if it was safe to undress. She saw Solas with his back to her and Abelas lounging close to him but staring up at the ceiling.

 

Once undressed she walked in to the middle of her spring and sank beneath the water. When she resurfaced she let out a happy sigh as the heat seeped into her aching muscles. Aurum pulled herself out of the pool to reach across the stone and scoop out a handful of salt scrub from the jar next to Solas before sinking back in to the water. She used it sparsely as she used one hand to rub it against her skin, the scrub was oily so it could be spread thinly across the skin. She ran out as she reached her legs, as she reached back over Solas looked at her. She pressed herself in to the cold rock beneath her to hide herself for his sake.

“You could just ask me to pass it.”

“Where would be the fun in that?” She teased as she took another scoop and sank back in to the water with her other arm shielding her breasts from the rough rock and Solas' gaze.

 

Aurum left soon after rinsing herself of salt, she dried and dressed carefully before kneeling down behind Solas.

“Will you be ok with Abelas?” She asked.

“I will be fine.” Aurum leant forward and gave him a quick peck on the tip of his ear before getting back up and leaving the bathing chamber.

 

Cole was waiting for Aurum as she approached the camp fire, he held one of their fur pelts under one of his arms.

“There are fireflies outside.” He said cheerfully. “Come and see.” He held out his hand for her to take. She smiled and dropped her things by her bedroll before taking his hand. He led her from the cave and in to a small clearing. It wasn't completely dark but there were a few dim yellow lights floating through the air. Cole led them to a high root and sat upon it, Aurum joined him and accepted half of the pelt as it was wrapped around her shoulders.

 

As it grew darker more fireflies began dancing around the small grove.

“Do you think we can catch one?” Aurum asked.

“We could but I think I can catch one before you can.” He said before he disappeared with a chuckle.

“Hey! That's cheating.” She shrieked as she ran after him. She ran in to the middle of the swarm of lights and tried catching them. They would flit and dance out of her way as her hands closed around them. Aurum squealed with joy when she finally caught one. “I caught one Cole!” She called out as she spun around to try and find him. She only found Dorian watching her with an amused look on his face.

“I think Cole is trying a different tactic.” He said pointing back behind her as Cole reappeared from the shadows with his hands clasped, he opened them a fraction and grinned when he found a firefly. He went over to Dorian and Aurum to show them the firefly before he let it fly back to its friends. Aurum opened her palms and did the same, it floated lazily around their heads before heading back in to the darkness.

 

For a moment she visualised herself and her child chasing fireflies in the darkness, her heart clenched at the thought of Solas not being there to watch or raise their child with her.

“Dorian do you mind waiting out here for a moment. I just need to talk to Solas about something.”

“Of course not. I await your return.”

 

Inside the others were chatting happily amongst themselves. Solas was sat on his own by their bedrolls as he listened to Cullen tell stories about living in the Circle. He turned his gaze to Aurum as she approached him.

“Solas, is it ok if I tell the others about our child?” She whispered quietly next to his ear.

“You wish to tell _everyone_ so soon?” He whispered back.

“No. Just Dorian, Bull and Cullen. I will tell the others eventually. I also want to tell them that I want to leave the Inquisition.” 

“You wish to leave?” He asked.

“I want to start fresh. I don't want to do it as the Herald or the Inquisitor.” 

“What are you two whispering about?” Bull asked before Solas could say anything. 

“I was just clarifying a few things with Solas. Could you and Cullen go outside and wait with Dorian, please. I will be out in a moment.” Cullen gave her a concerned look as he pulled himself up, Aurum gave him a reassuring smile as he exited the cave. Aurum found a bottle of brandy in Dorian's bag and took a large swig before following them out. 

 

They were all gathered around the root next to the discarded pelt. 

“So Boss, what do you wanna tell us?” 

“Before I tell you anything I want you all to swear that you will tell no one else.” 

“You have my word Aurum.” Cullen said seriously. 

“My lips are sealed my dear.” Dorian smiled.

“I won't say anything to anyone Boss.” Bull promised.

“Good.” She steeled herself as she took a deep breath. “I...I'm having a child.” She stuttered nervously. For a moment her friends were frozen in shock, a second later she was being picked up by Dorian and being swung around as he laughed and congratulated her. 

“This is truly wonderful news my dear girl. How long have you known.” Dorian asked after putting her down.

“Nearly two months. Mythal told me after I summoned her. Sadly that means that Morrigan knows too but she promised that she would keep the secret.” 

“How?” Cullen asked.

“She has a few secrets of her own that she doesn't want others to find out and she asked me to keep them. I think she was still in shock at finding out that her mother was Mythal.” 

“I know this sounds like a silly question, but why don't you want us telling anyone.” The Commander questioned. 

“Because I don't want the whole world knowing. If the world knows, then my enemies know which won't be good.” 

“That's right, you're right.”

“What did Solas say when you told him.” Bull asked with a smirk as he patted her on the back. 

“He apologised for not talking to me before when I wanted to tell him. He apologised for leaving and he wants to start things fresh and make a life of our own somewhere.” 

“Does that mean you'll want to leave Skyhold.”

“Yes.” She said almost sadly. “Skyhold is a wonderful place but it's not where I'd like to raise my family. Or where I'd like to help my people.”

“What do you mean?” Cullen asked as he slumped against one of the other roots. 

“I've noticed that as the Inquisitor it was difficult to be seen on the same level as the elves. If I want to give me people the chance of being a more united and free race then I have to do it as one of them. The Dalish and the city elves see me as a human puppet. I can't be the Herald of Andraste if I want my people to trust me and to see me as their equal. Please understand Cullen.” 

“I do understand. I just don't know what we'll do without you.” 

“Cassandra can find someone else to be in Inquisitor. You don't need me to lead you anymore. The breach and the rifts are sealed.” 

“You are more than just a sealer of fade rifts.” 

“I know. I just want to move on and raise my family peacefully without having to worry about what Orlesian nobles think.”

“When will you announce everything?” 

“I don't know. Right now I just want to focus on getting Solas better.” 

“Yes. Right.” The group sat quietly for a few minutes as they watched Cole flit about as he chased fireflies. 

 

Bull and Dorian left Cullen and Aurum to sit quietly outside as they gazed up through the tree canopy at the clear sky above. They stayed up late talking about everything and nothing. Cullen wrapped the pelt around her once more as she started to shiver as her wet hair was making her colder. 

 

Soon she fell asleep against Cullen, he carefully moved and easily picked up her light frame to carry her back inside, where he placed her under the blankets next to a sleeping Solas. Solas grumbled and shifted away from her in his sleep as he rolled over to face the fire. 

 

Aurum woke up in the dead of the night panting and afraid. In the dim light of the fire, she could see Abelas sat at the mouth of the cave. She took one of the fur pelts and padded over to him and sat next to him. Abelas didn't say anything as she curled up against his arm and cried quietly. She stayed up for the rest of the night, Abelas left her to go back to sleep and wake Bull for the next watch shift. Aurum stayed where she was and used Bull's massive arm as a leaning post as they watched the sun rise.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the short delay. I've been a little ill and my brain hasn't been cooperating.   
> I hope you like this chapter. Please leave Kudos and Comments

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hoped you liked it.


End file.
